Michael Dubno

Michael Dubno
Michael Dubno
Born	August 23, 1962 (age 64); Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Inventor, computer scientist, explorer, video game developer
Known for	Development of SecDB at Goldman Sachs; exploration of Challenger Deep; co-founder of Gadgetoff

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Michael Dubno, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 8 August 2025

Michael Dubno (born August 23, 1962) is an American inventor, computer scientist, explorer, and video game developer.

Early life and education

Dubno entered the world in Brooklyn, New York and is the younger sibling of television news producer Daniel Dubno. His family relocated to the Bronx, where he attended the Bronx High School of Science. During the 1970s, computers were rare in schools; Bronx Science housed an IBM 1620 and an HP 2000E but did not offer formal programming courses. Dubno independently learned programming using school computers, Lehman College's IBM System/360 (until it was stolen in 1978), and his personal North Star Horizon computer.

He began studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1981 but departed during his freshman year.

In 1982, Dubno founded Megasoft and launched the video game Megalegs for Atari platforms.

Starting in 1984, he engineered and constructed a robot capable of speech, movement, a functional arm, sonar-based navigation, and an infrared GPS-like positioning system.

He currently operates a distinctive workshop within his Manhattan townhouse.

Goldman Sachs (1985–2005)

In 1985, Dubno was recruited by Fischer Black at Goldman Sachs, where he was characterized as "one of Fischer's grad students." He became the first front-office employee hired specifically for programming expertise. Within the Equity division, he created trading systems and tools utilized across the firm.

SecDB

Leaving Goldman's J. Aron currency and commodity division in 1991, Dubno developed SecDB (Securities DataBase) in 1992 to address the expanding complexity of non-standard, non-listed options in currencies and metals. Despite these instruments not being traditional securities, SecDB’s object-oriented architecture enabled flexible management of various contract types, surpassing SQL capabilities. Its core datastore, SecServ, integrated features of an immutable ledger with an object store and supported worldwide replication where each local instance functioned as a "master," a critical feature for currency trading.

SecDB advanced to perform risk calculations on multiple contract types. In 1993/1994, Kevin Lundeen and Glenn Gribble joined Dubno to develop Slang (Securities LANGuage), an interpreted language akin to Python that expedited reporting and object creation. By 2017, Goldman Sachs maintained between 15 and 40 million lines of Slang code.

The use of SecDB and Slang expanded into Goldman's Equities and Fixed Income sectors, establishing itself as the firm’s principal risk management system. This platform was instrumental in enabling Goldman Sachs to lead technology-driven trading operations. It significantly contributed to enhancing risk controls prior to and throughout the 2008 financial crisis, bolstering the firm’s stability.

Former Goldman president Gary Cohn described SecDB as "such a competitive advantage." The system has been labeled "Goldman's most valuable software," the firm's "secret sauce," its "most valuable trading weapon," and "unmatched at rivals," highlighting its critical role within Goldman’s trading technology arsenal.

Internet

Dubno was a pioneer in leveraging the Internet at Goldman Sachs and spearheaded the development of the GS Financial Workbench, an integrated website designed for institutional clients across the firm. Launched in 1995, it stood among the earliest sophisticated financial analysis web platforms.

CTO & Partner

Dubno assumed the role of managing director in 1999, became a partner by 2001, and was appointed Chief Technology Officer in 2002 before stepping down in 2005.

Bank of America (2010–2015)

After the 2008 financial crisis, Bank of America acquired Merrill Lynch in 2009. Since neither company had a unified risk management system, Dubno was brought on board in 2010 as CIO of Global Markets Technology at Bank of America to fill this critical need. He successfully merged the technology platforms of Merrill Lynch and Bank of America and introduced Quartz, a platform inspired by Goldman Sachs' SecDB to drive similar achievements.

Beyond managing Global Markets and Investment Research Technology, Dubno also oversaw Global Markets Operations, Firmwide Risk Technology, and served as co-leader of the Global Markets Quantitative Strategies division. He retired from Bank of America at the close of 2014 after five years of service.

Gadgetoff (2002-current)

In 2002, together with his brother Daniel Dubno—an Emmy-winning producer and technologist—he co-founded Gadgetoff. The event brings together top inventors, entrepreneurs, and innovators annually, combining entertainment with forward-thinking business dialogue.

Gadgetoff's motto, "Bringing the smart and the useless together," has attracted distinguished guests such as TED founder Richard Saul Wurman, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, inventor Dean Kamen, AI pioneer Marvin Minsky, DARPA director Tony Tether, iRobot co-founder Colin Angle, longevity expert Aubrey de Grey, game designer Will Wright, and architect and toy innovator Chuck Hoberman. Popular Mechanics has dubbed it the "world's greatest screwball science fair."

Inventions and art

United States Patent US4722053 – (1987) Co-developed with Dan Dubno, this patent for a "Food service ordering terminal with video game capability" was ahead of its time in the food service sector, anticipating today’s interactive ordering kiosks found in airports and fast-food establishments.

United States Patent US2021/0058369 – (2020) Alongside co-inventors including Danny Hillis, created a "Secure Communications System" method that advances secure data transmission technologies.

Sand table – An electromechanical functional art piece designed as a coffee table featuring a computer-controlled gantry that moves a steel ball bearing across sand to form patterns. It includes a web interface for remote control (2009).

Tentalux – An animated chandelier equipped with six motorized light tentacles that operate independently. It incorporates a camera for object tracking and integrates with Alexa, Google Home, and web-based controls to enable programmable light animations.

Gyre – A kinetic mobile displaying pairs of umbrellas that move to indicate current and predicted precipitation levels. Originally developed for DarkSky, it is now part of Applied Inventions’ collection in Cambridge, MA.

Board membership and government

Together with David Siegel (computer scientist), he co-founded and co-chairs NYC FIRST, an organization dedicated to promoting STEM education and supporting FIRST robotics initiatives within New York City. NYC FIRST runs two STEM Centers that blend formal instruction with experiential learning to provide hands-on STEM and robotics opportunities for underserved schools and communities.

Member of the Executive Advisory Board for FIRST.
Served on the CSforAll Board from 2016 to 2022.
Board member at Cerebellum Capital from 2009 through 2020.
Independent board member at Datapipe, a managed hosting firm acquired by Rackspace in 2017.
Board member at Tormach, specializing in compact CNC machinery and tooling since 2021.
Served as Acting CTO during Senator Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.

North Pole

In 2018, Dubno played a key role in organizing what was recognized as the "World's youngest scientific expedition to the North Pole," proudly carrying Explorers Club flag number 61. Operating from Camp Barneo, the group carried out various scientific investigations, including analyzing microplastics found in water, snow, and ice samples. The environmental findings were subsequently shared with NASA's Ice Bridge initiative.

Masaya Volcano

During 2019, Dubno took part in a research expedition to the caldera of Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua. The mission involved conducting experiments such as thermal mapping using drones, sampling sulfur dioxide (SO2) via UAVs, and collecting extremophile organisms for further study.

Challenger Deep, Mariana Trench

On March 3, 2021, Dubno became the 18th individual to reach the Challenger Deep within the Mariana Trench. Accompanied by pilot Victor Vescovo, he explored the northern section of the eastern basin while bearing Explorers Club flag number 61. Together with fellow explorer Richard Garriott—the 17th person to visit the Deep—they conducted several important scientific activities, including:

Placing the deepest known Geocache on Earth.
Gathering water and sediment samples aimed at studying piezophile organisms and microplastic contamination.
Collecting amphipoda specimens to assess microplastic presence.
Performing hydroforming of metal under extreme pressure conditions.

Publications and awards

Co-authored research revealing a Lunar Calendar feature on the Antikythera Mechanism dial (2020), recognized by the British Horological Institute.
Recipient of the ASME "Mentor Extraordinaire" accolade in 2005.

External links

References