[3] Even though he only started his undergraduate studies at the regular age of 18, he took classes in computer programming and organic chemistry during high school because he lived close to the university.
In 1967 Knight wrote the original kernel for the ITS operating system, as well as the combination of command processor and debugger that was used as its top-level user interface.
During the early 1990s, Knight was involved in the formation of Permabit and of Exa Corporation and the architecture of the latter's initial version of its FX/1 lattice gas parallel fluid flow computer.
Advances included using over-relaxation techniques to make 10x algorithmic improvements in lattice gas computations, landmark CFD accuracies, and correction of misconceptions about the origin of fluid turbulence in simple two-dimensional flow situations.
Within the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, he led the Abacus SIMD project, worked on VLSI micro displays, and made advances in the field of adiabatic (reversible) computing.
Today, BioBricks form the basis of the enormous annual iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) competition[3] and Knight is sometimes referred to as the godfather of synthetic biology.