Please Meet Amazing Robotics!

Coming up now is Kathy Ceceri, maker of Amazing Robotics. Amazing Robotics are low tech or no tech robotics projects for kids. These projects allow one to build real working robots out of household items and everyday materials, without the need for a computer or special skills. 

For examples and more information, take a gander at http://craftsforlearning.com and https://www.facebook.com/AmazingRoboticsProjects. 

Come learn about robots at our Maker Faire! 

Please Meet Cake Bash Cake Decorating!

I am excited to now introduce Tara Allen, maker in charge of Cake Bash Cake Decorating! At our Maker Faire, you will be able to learn cake decorating skills, such as how to properly fill and use a pastry bag, and how to use it to make decorative flowers and borders. After learning the basics, you can decorate your very own cupcake to take home in your very own display box. (Or if you’re like me, you can decorate your very own cupcake to eat right then and maybe go back to make another!) 

For more information about Cake Bash decorating, and to see examples, take a look at http://cakebashparties.com. 

Come eat cake on October 12th! 

Please Meet Katie Nare Jewelry!

It is time now to introduce Katie Nare, maker of Katie Nare Jewelry! Katie takes small poppy seed sized needs and strings them together into pieces that double as jewelry and sculptural art! To truly understand how fantastic these pieces of jewelry are, look at http://katienarejewelry.wordpress.com. There you will find pictures of the pieces and small descriptions! Come check out Katie’s booth on October 12th! 

Get pumped! 

Please Meet OpenWireLab!

Now introducing Balam Soto, co-owner and maker in charge of OpenWireLab! OpenWireLab or OWL is a company that makes DIY wearable electronic kits. 

For more information look at http://openwirelab.com! 

Only 17 more days until our Emma Willard Mini Maker Faire! 

Please Meet Nathaniel Rowan!

Next I shall be introducing Nathaniel Rowan, a maker who will be demonstrating violin making on October 12th. Nathaniel will display various steps in the process of making a violin. Beginning with the concept of design, there will be multiple violins presented in various stages of construction, ultimately moving to a completed instrument. Additionally, there will be a comparison of traditional and contemporary violins and a demonstration of specific tools used in violin making! 

For more information and to see examples of this amazing instruments, check out http://www.nrviolins.com.

See you at the Maker Faire!

Please Meet Flow Toys!

Today I would like to introduce Gemma Halfi, the maker who will be showcasing Creative Movement with Flow Toys at our Maker Faire! Flow Toys are any piece of equipment that can be used to inspire visual and kinesthetic experience and creative expression through creative and exploratory movement. It’s a means of getting into your own body, enhancing awareness of your surroundings, and stretching physical and mental limits. Two examples that will be featured at our Maker Faire will be Hoop Dancing and Poi Spinning. Come to the Maker Faire to see this creative movement and get involved! 

Please Meet Julie Casper Roth!

On our list of makers, we now have Julie Casper Roth, the mind behind Autism as Evolution: Aspiring to Animality. Julie Casper Roth is an artist, whose recent video work has focused on the idea of autism being a form of human evolution. Her work envisions a hypothetical future in which the majority of the human population is on the autism spectrum and instead of being seen as dysfunctional, autism is seen as neurotypical. To better examine future humanity, Julie Casper Roth looks backwards, exploring the genetic basis of autism. A very interesting piece of her work, and her favorite part, is the connection between autism and animality – particularly as it relates to evolution of cognition in animals and humans. 

Julie Casper Roth’s work explores the idea that autism is a genetic reprioritization of traits that favor the strength of animals. In other words, Casper Roth sees autism as the re-ignition of genes that have become dormant throughout history. She feels that animality was not just repressed and dominated in the human genome, but rather that it was stored until stressors in the environment made it necessary to resurface. These instructions for animality, which are ignited in those on the autism spectrum, influence social and neurological traits that benefit human and animal society. 

Julie Casper Roth has created a video piece entitled “Do Animals Have Autism?” Which acknowledges and explores the shared processing and neurological traits of animals and people on the autism spectrum, and understands that these traits are necessary for survival. Such traits include behaviors such as scanning, stereotyped movements, variables in social traits, and nonverbal communication.

Ultimately, Casper Roth wonders through her work if humans were the animal kingdom’s unwitting experiment, a vehicle and test for survival of the fittest genes and a pathway to the posthuman/neoanimal. 

To see this video and learn more about this concept, come see the Autism as Evolution booth at our Maker Faire!

Please Meet Blokify!

Coming up now on the list of makers is Brett Cupta, who is responsible for Blokify! What is Blokify, you ask? It is a free iOS application that allows everyone, children and adults alike, to easily build any 3d model that their imaginations can conjure. It uses a block-based building system and tool free UI to make the building process easy and quick! The transition from virtual to physical is handled by a wireless 3d printer, making it possible for users to go from an idea to a physical creation in only a few hours! 

To more information and to see examples, take a gander at http://blokify.com and come to the Blokify booth at the Emma Willard Mini Maker Faire! 

Please Meet Cozy Crochet!

I would love to introduce Nadine Bouleris, the textile artist in charge of Cozy Crochet! At the Maker Faire, there will be various handmade crochet items to look at, feel, and purchase! 

Come check out Cozy Crochet on October 12th, and you’ll be hooked on crocheting! 

Please Meet The Diode Clock!

I am happy to introduce Ted Yapo, maker in charge of The Diode Clock! “The Diode Clock is an artifact of post-modern electronic design.” This is a six digit LED clock with over 7,000 total components that uses only common diodes, which are conductors and channelers of electricity. This clock is built using DDL (Diode-Diode Logic) gates, which forms a functionally complete logic family. DDL is part of a transistorless digital logic family. This clock is proof that diode-diode logic works, and is the first step towards the concept of a diode only computer. 

Come to The Diode Clock booth on October 12th to learn more about this technology, see the clock, race it through a 24-hour cycle in only 30 seconds, and play with simple circuits using DDL!