Grant Imahara, an electrical engineer and roboticist who gained fame as a host of the long-running science show Mythbusters, died on Monday at the age of 49.
“We are heartbroken to hear this sad news about Grant,” Discovery Channel wrote in a statement. “He was an important part of our Discovery family and a really wonderful man. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.”
According to the Washington Post, Imahara died after suffering a brain aneurysm.
Imahara was best known for his long tenure as part of the ‘build team’ on Discovery’s Mythbusters series, which attempted to debunk or prove urban legends while developing enthusiasm for science, design and engineering.
A native of Los Angeles, Imahara received a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California.
He also was a noted roboticist and developed mechanized combatants for robotic arena battles that were televised on the Comedy Central series Battlebots and later served as a judge for the show.
In addition, Imahara was one of the the select group at George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic of officially trained operators for the Star Wars robot R2-D2 and played a key role in engineering the Energizer Bunny, including developing a system to ensure its cymbal beats were properly rhythmic.
Following news of his death, Mythbusters co-host Adam Savage wrote:
“I’m at a loss. No words. I’ve been part of two big families with Grant Imahara over the last 22 years. Grant was a truly brilliant engineer, artist and performer, but also just such a generous, easygoing, and gentle PERSON. Working with Grant was so much fun. I’ll miss my friend.”
