How the BTU Lab at the ATLAS Institute听is creating听the next听generation of innovators
Hackers get a bad rap.听Thanks to popular culture, mention 鈥渃omputer hacker鈥� and people immediately think of Matthew Broderick in War Games, or any number of recent security breaches of data. In reality, hackers are not nefarious types who lurk in the shadows, stealing your personal information. They are creative, dedicated men and women who are using their minds and powers for good, not evil. They want to change not just the way we think of the term 鈥渉acker,鈥� but to also change people鈥檚 lives through innovation.
In support of this mission, the ATLAS Institute is creating what it calls a 鈥渉acker space鈥� in its BTU, or British Thermal Unit, Lab. Launched in September 2014, the BTU Lab+Hacker Space is a 鈥減hysical location where people get together and tinker, create or hack,鈥� says lab director Alicia Gibb. 鈥淗acker spaces were created by communities who wanted camaraderie and a place to work together.鈥�
For Jeffrey 鈥淛iffer鈥� Harriman, the Hacker Space provides an opportunity to blend his music and engineering backgrounds into new designs and new creations. Harriman is earning his doctorate in technology, media and society from the ATLAS Institute. He also earned his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from CU and his master鈥檚 degree in music, science and technology from Stanford University.
鈥淲hat I鈥檓 doing right now is trying to create interfaces and software that are easy to work with for musicians and artists who are interested in technology but don鈥檛 necessarily have the chops,鈥� Harriman said. 鈥淚 want to make technology more accessible for people to express themselves in new ways.鈥�
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Harriman wants to bridge music and technology to educate and engage children in music and art while introducing them to technology and science.
鈥淚鈥檓 working on a project called Modular-Muse,鈥� Harriman said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a software library and hardware tool kit to make it easier to build instruments and engage kids who are interested in music but not in programming. It鈥檚 a way to spark their interest in this field.鈥�
Jiffer鈥檚 Hacker Space creations are prime examples of what the BTU Lab hopes to get out of those who use it. While the innovations stem from the minds of hackers, the BTU Lab provides an array of tools that would make MacGyver excited. Students have access to 3-D printers, laser cutters, a watercolor robot, sewing machine, performance space and much more. The ATLAS Institute does not stifle imagination.
For example, take ATLAS doctoral student HyunJoo Oh, who designs paper machines that move and react to stimuli. Paper mechatronics, in their terms, is an interdisciplinary medium that combines mechanisms, electronics and papercrafts. It allows people to learn the fundamental concepts and structures of physical computing and motivates them to imagine what it could be.
Drawing on the interdisciplinary nature of study at the ATLAS Institute, Oh combines art, technology and engineering into projects that take everyday materials like paper and cardboard and transform them into something that turns adults into wide-eyed children. And it all started with Theo Jansen鈥檚 Strandbeest, a large mechanical animal built out of polyvinyl chloride that can move on its own.
鈥淚 saw a YouTube video of a paper kit of his work and I loved it,鈥� says Oh. 鈥淚 thought, 鈥業 can build one of these鈥� and spent the next three to four days at the lab and built it. I spent a ridiculous amount of time and effort to make it despite my expertise as a designer. I wanted to make it more approachable to share with more people.鈥�
Oh earned undergraduate and master鈥檚 degrees from Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea. She then received a master鈥檚 degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. At the suggestion of her advisor, Oh decided to make her paper mechatronics into something more than just art. She wanted to inspire others to create, so she developed a do-it-yourself method for her projects.
Oh uses familiar materials (paper and cardboard) and developed the tools that people need to cut it and build it themselves. Oh envisions it as 鈥渁nother concept of Lego play鈥� that pushes people from simply viewing art to creating art.
鈥淎TLAS allows students to use other resources around campus,鈥� Oh says. 鈥淚t helps us get access to computer science resources, art, education and more if we need it. For me, that is a very important aspect for my study.鈥�
In keeping with innovation, creativity and technology, the College of Engineering and Applied Science is adding a new Bachelor of Science in Technology, Arts and Media degree program in fall 2015. It is a key component of the college鈥檚 2020 strategic plan to grow and increase gender diversity. This degree will expand and intensify the existing technology, arts and media core courses of study as well as incorporate a curriculum grounded in engineering and computation disciplines.
Because when hackers, educators, artists and students collaborate, great things can happen.
