MIT: Independent Activities Period: IAP

IAP 2014 Activities by Category - Computers: Hardware and Devices

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3D printing for fun and science? A conversation about digital fabrication, the library, and you

Matthew Bernhardt, Web Developer, MIT Libraries

Jan/14 Tue 01:00PM-02:30PM 56-114

Enrollment: Please register: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=489770
Limited to 60 participants

Digital fabrication has changed considerably over the last few decades. Barriers to use have fallen, and technologies that were once the purview of specialized researchers are now sold in retail outlets like Sears, Staples and the Microsoft store. Schools and libraries have even begun getting into the act, from NC State to the Chicago Public Library.

Applications include producing prosthetic hands for accident victims, manufacturing replacement parts for hard-to-source components, or even mapping word frequency across the history of a given journal and printing time series histograms.

But what about here at MIT?

This session will discuss the range of fabrication technologies now available, as well as those available at MIT, for sale, for rent, and (for a limited time, experimentally) through the Libraries—as part of this session, the Libraries have acquired a MakerBot Replicator 2 that is capable of producing objects in PLA plastic!

Plus, participants will have the opportunity to see a 3D-printer in action and even design their own objects—submit a printable file, generated by the free MakerWare software, by Thursday, January 10th. Up to five submissions will be selected for production before the discussion (provided the designs are producible!).

(Hint: You can try turning a photo into a 3D model with 123D Catch.)

Please register for this session.

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Randi Shapiro, (617) 324-4988, shapiror@mit.edu


Crash Course in Hardware Startups

Jeremy Conrad, MIT Alum

Jan/06 Mon 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205
Jan/08 Wed 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205
Jan/10 Fri 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205
Jan/13 Mon 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205
Jan/15 Wed 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205
Jan/17 Fri 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205
Jan/22 Wed 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205
Jan/24 Fri 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205
Jan/27 Mon 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205
Jan/29 Wed 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205
Jan/31 Fri 02:00PM-03:30PM 8-205

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 12/14
Limited to 30 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

This class is for anyone who wants to start their own hardware company.  It will cover all the areas you need to understand to begin. This includes prototyping, manufacturing, branding, marketing, fundraising and much more!

Please apply in groups of 3-4 people. It is a project based class and each group will pick a company to start.  By the end you have a roadmap of how to start a hardware company.

The course will address different types of companies from consumer electronics and connected devices to satellites and robots.  If there are moving atoms or electrons then it's hardware.

Jeremy Conrad is a founding partner at Lemnos Labs, a hardware startup incubator based in San Francisco. Lemnos invests in early stage companies ranging from Aerospace and Robotics to Consumer Electronics. Prior to founding Lemnos Jeremy spent five years as an officer in the US Air Force working on weapons grade lasers for missile defense. He has a Mechanical Engineering degree from MIT.

Sponsor(s): Edgerton Center, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Amy Fitzgerald, 4-405, 617 253-7931, AMYFITZ@MIT.EDU


How will Big Data, Systems on a Chip, and Field Programmable Gate Arrays affect Measurement and Control Systems?

Joshua Brown, Boston Academic Field Engineer, National Instruments

Jan/29 Wed 01:00PM-03:00PM E25-119

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: None

Researchers often need to leverage the latest technology to develop measurement and control systems. These technologies often require a high level of specialized knowledge to implement successfully. However, researchers typically work in small teams with limited development resources. This seminar will discuss what technologies are impacting system design, provide an overview of National Instruments' platform approach to system design, and discuss how this approach can increase the productivity of small research teams.


No advanced registration necessary, but interested participants can register at http://sine.ni.com/nievents/app/offering/p/offeringId/1763790/site/nic/country/us/lang/en to access technical resources and interact with the developer community.

Sponsor(s): Institute for Medical Engineering & Science
Contact: Thomas Heldt, 617 324-5005, THOMAS@MIT.EDU


Human + Computer Workshop w/ RISD (Arduino, Rapid Prototyping, Sci-Fi)

David Mellis, PhD student, MIT Media Lab, Sophia Brueckner, Master's Student, MIT Media Lab, Tiffany Tseng, PhD Student, MIT Media Lab, Ryan Mather, RISD STEAM

Jan/11 Sat 10:00AM-04:00PM MIT
Jan/18 Sat 10:00AM-04:00PM RISD
Jan/25 Sat 10:00AM-04:00PM MIT
Feb/01 Sat 10:00AM-04:00PM RISD

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 12/15
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: One of: electronics, programming, rapid prototyping, design

Join a team of Brown, RISD, and MIT students for a 4-part workshop series on the body and technology! We will be meeting every Saturday come January, alternating between RISD/Brown and MIT campuses, with our last workshop falling on Feb. 1. The workshop series will culminate in projects and a show, open to external submissions, at Exposé, the RISD student-run gallery.


Transhumanism is the belief that the human race can evolve beyond its current limitations through the use of science and technology. However, will our accelerating transformation into cyborgs be a form of transcendence or are we building our own prisons of technology? This class will combine the design of new body/machine interfaces with learning relevant technical skills in electronics, digital fabrication, and programming. With a focus on building wearable devices, human augmentation, and alternative, more visceral forms of communication, students from MIT, Brown, and RISD will work in groups to conceptualize, prototype, and finally build functioning versions of their ideas in whatever form they will take. 

More details are available on the application! Keep your eyes peeled for posters around campus as well. The application is due December 15th at midnight. Decisions will by turned around by the 22nd. More exact information on location and requisites will come to those accepted. 

Fill out an application here! http://bit.ly/1dsJAty

Organized by Brown + RISD STEAM + MIT Media Lab

Sponsor(s): Media Arts and Sciences
Contact: David Mellis, mellis@media.mit.edu


iOS Workshop

Brandon Muramatsu, Sr. Education Technology Consultant, Josh Shaffer, iOS Software Engineer

Jan/10 Fri 09:00AM-05:00PM See Website, bring your Mac Laptop.

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/06
Limited to 20 participants
Prereq: Object oriented programming background.

Our goal is to provide an introduction to iOS App development. By the end of the workshop you should have created a full sample app. The morning will be lecture-based and cover the basics while the afternoon will be hands-on and lab-style. This workshop is targeted at those just getting started with iOS development. The workshop will be led by Josh Shaffer an iOS Software Engineer.

Please register online at the workshop website icampusprize.mit.edu/iap/ios-workshop-2014/. The website will have up to date details on the workshop.

Sponsor(s): Office of Educational Innovation and Technology
Contact: Brandon Muramatsu, NE48-308, 617 253-1680, MURA@MIT.EDU


Rapid Prototyping: ISN Soldier Design Contest

Kurt Keville

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

Compete in this year's Soldier Design Contest and Rapid Equipment Force Grand Challenge. Attend all sessions for a foundation in the fundamental processes of Rapid Prototyping and build a winning design for prizes.

Jan 14: SDC Contest Overview, project descriptions, interest statements and class scheduling.

Jan 16: Caffeinated Crash course in PCB design (and finish up SDC project description/signups)

Jan 21: Lab equipment training and checkout. Partial equipment list; Various Microscopy (AFM, SEM, TEM), assorted chromatography, basic metal and wood shop, 3-D printing, sundry CVD.

Jan 23: MIT Beaverworks Tour

Jan 28: Bolt Facility Tour
http://bolt.io

Jan 30: Final Project (Powerpoint) Presentations
Web: http://mit.edu/isn/sdc

Contact: Kurt Keville, 4-6424, kkeville@mit.edu


Rapid Prototyping Soldier Design Contest

Jan/14 Tue 03:00PM-04:30PM 66-160
Jan/16 Thu 03:00PM-04:30PM 66-160
Jan/21 Tue 03:00PM-04:30PM 66-160
Jan/23 Thu 03:00PM-04:30PM 66-160
Jan/28 Tue 03:00PM-04:30PM 66-160
Jan/30 Thu 03:00PM-04:30PM 66-160

Kurt Keville


Visualization in Education: Creating Animations

Violeta Ivanova, PhD, ARTEMiS

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Limited to 10 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None

Learn how to create graphics and animations using software tools such as Maya and After Effects. This workshop introduces principles and techniques for visual communication and provides opportunities to acquire practical skills in the digital visual arts, including, but not limited to: creating 3D models, materials, and keyframe motion animation in Maya; creating 2D graphics and animation in After Effects; and editing a short animated movie. The focus will be on experiential learning, therefore participants will learn primarily by producing their own models and animations. In addition, the instructors will demo in detail the production workflows of educational animations and will provide resources for further learning following the workshop.

Sponsor(s): Office of Educational Innovation and Technology
Contact: Violeta Ivanova, artemis-www@mit.edu


Jan/27 Mon 01:00PM-04:00PM 56-191
Jan/28 Tue 01:00PM-04:00PM 56-191
Jan/29 Wed 01:00PM-04:00PM 26-139
Jan/30 Thu 01:00PM-04:00PM 26-139

Betsy Skrip, MFA, Violeta Ivanova, PhD - ARTEMiS


Windows 8 and Unity Games Development Workshops

Brandon Muramatsu, Sr. Educational Technology Consultant, TBD, Academic Developer Evangelist

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/06
Limited to 25 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

The Windows 8 and Unity Game Development Workshops are a series workshops to help you get started developing for Windows 8 and using Unity to develop games for the XBox One.

These workshops can also be used as a stepping stone towards a few larger competitions with a focus on socially responsible and/or educational themes, including the iCampus Student Prize, IDEAS Global Challenge or the Imagine Cup.

Please register online at the workshop website icampusprize.mit.edu/iap/windows-8-and-unity-game-development-2014/. The website will have up to date details on the workshops.

Sponsor(s): Office of Educational Innovation and Technology, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Brandon Muramatsu, NE48-308, 617 253-1680, MURA@MIT.EDU


Windows 8 & Unity Game Dev, Day 1

Jan/13 Mon 09:00AM-03:00PM See Website, bring your Windows 8 laptop.

Please register online at icampusprize.mit.edu/iap/windows-8-and-unity-game-development-2014/. The website will have up to date details on the workshops.


Windows 8 & Unity Game Dev, Day 2

Jan/14 Tue 09:00AM-03:00PM See Website, bring your Windows 8 laptop.

Please register online at icampusprize.mit.edu/iap/windows-8-and-unity-game-development-2014/. The website will have up to date details on the workshops.