Mark Rober makes science videos for YouTube. He sneaks science into his big, silly builds. He says he hides the science like vegetables. Kids click on a fun video, and the science comes along with it. He also says to treat failure like losing a level in a video game. You try again and figure out how to beat the level. He calls his habit of treating setbacks like a video game "life gamification."
In 2011, Mark's iPad Halloween costume helped launch his YouTube channel. His first YouTube video, in 2011, got more than a million views. He used two iPads. They made it look like he had a hole through the middle of his body.
As of April 2026, Mark puts up a new science or engineering video about once a month. In some of his videos, he has battled seed-stealing squirrels. He built an obstacle course. It was to keep squirrels away from a bird feeder. He also filled a pool with Jell-O.
Mark used to work at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for nine years. He worked on Curiosity. It is a rover that went to Mars. He worked on the jet pack that lowered the rover to the surface. He also worked on rover hardware used to collect samples. At Apple, he worked on product design in its Special Projects group. While working there, he kept making YouTube videos as a fun, creative outlet.
Mark teamed up with the YouTuber MrBeast to help the environment. They started Team Trees, a project with a goal of planting 20 million trees. Team Trees worked with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant the trees. Mark and MrBeast also started Team Seas to clean up trash from oceans, rivers and beaches.
Mark went to Brigham Young University and the University of Southern California. In June 2023, he gave the main speech at the MIT graduation. He has been a guest on the TV show Jimmy Kimmel Live. People have called him a Willy Wonka for engineers.
Mark started CrunchLabs, a company that makes kits for kids. Kids use the kits to build things and learn about engineering. CrunchLabs wants kids to learn to think like an engineer. Mark wants kids to love science and engineering.
Words to know
- rover: Mars explorer
- gamification: game-style thinking
- kits: things to build
- Curiosity: a Mars rover
