Two years into his tenure at RISD, 43-year-old Maeda is using his perch as a college president to sell innovation and design as a critical component of business in the 21st century and to somewhat stealthily create a new generation of RISD graduates who will be artrepreneurs.

FORBES: Names You Need to Know in 2011: John Maeda

The installation, currently housed at the New York Hall of Science in Flushing, layers 12 of its component clear plastic sheets to create a roughly one-foot deep display that plays a simple pre-drawn animation.

ENGADGET: Crayolascope hacks toys into foot-thick 3D display Alt