A practicing eye surgeon, Brien Seeley is also the founder and president of the CAFE (Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency) Foundation. This research organization started out holding competitions for superefficient aircraft but is now helping humankind come one step closer to the ultimate sci-fi fantasy: the flying car.

But please don't call it that. The preferred term among enthusiasts is "air vehicle."

The dream of air vehicles may seem prosaic after having been proposed every decade since the 1950s, but Seeley does not envision a Jetsons-style autopia. Instead he proposes a lightweight aircraft with high thermodynamic efficiency and extreme drag reduction--not so much a flying car as a powered glider that cruises at about 100 miles an hour and gets at least 100 miles per gallon.