alicia

OSHW Quick Reference Guide

Author : alicia Date : June 13, 2014

The Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA) has developed a Quick Reference Guide for open source hardware.

The folder contains:

– a checklist for opening your project

– a May and Must poster to remind the community of what must be done to consider a project open hardware and what other options you may use.

– a folder of many different file types of the open source hardware logo.

– a copy of the open source hardware definition and best practices

– a “What is Open Source Hardware” infographic

You can find the Google drive folder here: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_f25OKVb0TCb3BKQ053RV9DcU0&usp=sharing

If you find this useful, please consider contributing to OSHWA through membership or donation!

On Creative Commons and Open Source

Author : alicia Date : May 21, 2014

When you ask someone what license they are using for their open source hardware project, you’re quite likely to hear the answer “Creative Commons.” And unfortunately, that doesn’t fully answer the question.

The reason is that there is not a single entity called the “Creative Commons license.” Rather, Creative Commons offers a number of different licenses that can apply some rights and protections to your work, including the CC-BY and CC-BY-SA licenses which reflect open source values closely. In the 2012 and 2013 surveys these licenses were, in fact, the most popular licenses used for open source hardware documentation. (Creative Commons licenses cannot be applied to the hardware itself.)

Creative Commons also offers licenses that carry restrictions — against commercial use and/or derivative works — that are strictly incompatible with open source¹. The open source hardware definition states that a license for open source hardware “[…] shall allow for the manufacture, sale, distribution, and use of products created from the design files, the design files themselves, and derivatives thereof.” Thus, if you choose to release hardware under the banner of “open source,” that means that you agree to allow others to use your design commercially, as well as to create derivative works (and to use them commercially). Consequently, you cannot advertise your project or product as “open source” if it carries restrictions against either of those uses.

To enumerate the particulars, the following licenses are compatible with open source values:

Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)
Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC0)

While the following licenses carry restrictions that are not compatible with open source:

Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs (CC BY-ND)
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC)
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND)
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA)

Here are some more resources about the issue of NC and open source:

To continue the discussion we’ve also posted this topic in the forums.

¹The Open Source Hardware Definition itself is a derivative work of the Open Source Definition (for software), and its language regarding commercial use and derivatives of OSHW is directly adapted from the language in the software context. Restrictions against commercial use and/or derivative works are incompatible with open source hardware, and also incompatible with open source software.

How to Host a Symposium with your Congressperson

Author : alicia Date : April 30, 2014

Photo credit: Aleph Objects, Inc.
CC BY SA 4.0

The Front Range Open Source Hardware Symposium was a success! The purpose of the event was to educate the public about open source hardware. Ten open source companies (Sparkfun, Lulzbot, Open Tech Collaborative, Road Narrows Robotics, Modrobotics with their open manufacturing system, Great Scott Gadgets, Cryptotronix, Pcduino, Sparky’s Widgets, and representation from Mach 30) were present along with around 50 attendees. We had an excellent discussion with House of Representatives Congressman Jared Polis. The main topic brought to the attention of Congressman Polis was that innovation moves faster with open source hardware which is why it is important as in IP alternative. Many people also voiced the need for more openness in publicly funded research to enhance the copy-ability of experiments and use open source hardware alternatives within the education system for the benefit of transparency and longevity. There was also mention of the inhibiting cost that some governmental regulations can have on open source hardware. And Jared Polis voiced his concern about making sure open source hardware stays accessible and open in the face of new IP reform. You don’t take our word for the success of the event, Here’s a write up from Aaron Harper.

We wanted to share the process for inviting a member of Congress / government official to speak with the open hardware community where you live. While OSHWA can not currently help with funding these events, we can assist by sharing fliers, email copy and the information that it takes to host an event.

1. Contact your representative to ask if they would be willing to participate in an event talking with the open source hardware community. Schedule a time (be prepared to wait a few months for a time slot). Check with their office that the signage for your event is appropriate and notify them of the location.

2. Set up a way to RSVP (we used Eventbrite), and promote the event. The event should be a public event to educate the public about open source hardware. OSHWA can include your Open Hardware Symposium with your congressperson on our events page and mailing list.

3. Communicate with the people involved, those asking to show their open source hardware projects and your congressperson (or their staffers). Here is a copy of the logistics email sent and the agenda email.

4. Contact OSHWA to mail you fliers [flier 1, flier 2]: info@oshwa.org

5. Rent tables, chairs, and venue if needed. We had snacks because of the time of the event. You may also need to purchase power strips and extension cords if the venue does not provide those. You may want to ask the open source hardware companies in attendance to assist with the costs. Here is the break down of this event’s costs:

Venue $225
Table/Chair Rental $178
Ice, beverages, snacks $130
Total: $533

6. Thank people for coming, tell everyone what open source hardware is, remind people to stay respectful and on topic, and start your discussion! If you need help along the way, don’t hesitate to contact info@oshwa.org

2013 Survey data is posted!

Author : alicia Date : January 31, 2014

In 2013 OSHWA conducted a survey of the international open source hardware community, which received 1,007 responses. We’ve shared the aggregate results! You can download the master files, or use the graphs we’ve created. A big thanks to our Research Chair, Catarina Mota, for making the survey and the data possible.

The survey results can be found under our Research tab (along with data from 2012), or simply follow this link: https://www.oshwa.org/oshw-community-survey-2013/

New FAQ on USB Vendor ID and Product ID

Author : alicia Date : November 19, 2013

This FAQ and others are available on the OSHWA FAQ page: https://www.oshwa.org/faq/

What’s a USB vendor ID (VID) and product ID (PID) and what should I do about them?

USB vendor IDs (VID) and product IDs (PID) are 16-bit numbers used to identify USB devices to a computer or other host. Each vendor ID is assigned by the USB Implementers Forum to a specific company, which in turn assign a PID to individual products. The VID and PID are then embedded in the product and communicated to the computer when the device is plugged in, along with text strings describing the vendor and product and additional descriptors about the communication protocols supported by the device.

Because a USB VID is specific to a particular organization, derivatives shouldn’t use the VID and PID of the original hardware. This can be problematic for small open-source hardware projects because it costs $5000 to get your own vendor ID (and more for permission to use the USB logo). Because this can be a lot of money for a small project, people have taken various approaches to avoiding the need to purchase a vendor ID. If you’re using an off-the-shelf chip for USB communication, you may be able to use the VID/PID of that chip (e.g. with FTDI chips). OpenMoko has opened up their VID for use by free and open-source software and hardware communities. In some cases, a device may work correctly regardless of the VID/PID it uses, since its actual capabilities are specified by other descriptors. In general, though, the current USB VID and PID scheme doesn’t work particularly well with open-source hardware and its encouragement of derivative works. (For example, here’s one attempt to get a VID for open-source projects.) Ian Lesnet gave a talk on the USB VID/PID situation(slides) at the 2012 Open Hardware Summit.

OSHWA is interested in improving this situation by educating the USB IF about the needs of the open-source hardware community and to explain the USB VID/PID situation to the open-source hardware community. If you’re interested in helping out with this effort, please get in touch.

This FAQ and others are available on the OSHWA FAQ page: https://www.oshwa.org/faq/

Best Practices for the OSHW definition

Author : alicia Date : October 24, 2013

The Best Practices, written by the community via the mailing list and a Google doc, have been posted on OSHWA’s website for while now. But we’ve been seeing an increase in questions about specifics of the oshw definition as of late, usually dealing with how to best implement the definition. So we wanted to raise some awareness that the Best Practices are a guide to following the oshw definition.

The Best Practices include:

How to publish Original Design Files
How to publish Auxiliary Design Files
Advice for BOMs, Software, Firmware, Photos, and Instruction
Hosting your Design Files, and Licensing them
What to do when Distributing Your OSHW
How to reuse and remix other’s OSHW

This document has been hashed out over the course of the past 6 months thanks to the work of participants on the mailing list lead by David A. Mellis and Nathan Seidle. If you feel we’re missing something, wish to discuss, or have a translation for us to post, please write to the mailing list.

Happy Ada Lovelace Day!

Author : alicia Date : October 15, 2013

For Ada Lovelace Day we would like to highlight all the women who work for OSHWA and represent OSHWA on our board! And we thank the allies who work with us in Open Source Hardware.

The Exceptional Women on Our Team:

Alicia Gibb – Executive Director

Alicia is the founder of the Open Source Hardware Association. Previous to becoming an advocate and an entrepreneur, Alicia was a researcher and prototyper at Bug Labs where she ran the academic research program and the Test Kitchen, an open R&D Lab. She is a member of NYCResistor, co-founder of the Open Hardware Summit, and a member of the advisory board for Linux Journal and The Ada Initiative. She holds a degree in art education, a M.S. in Art History and a M.L.I.S. in Information Science from Pratt Institute.

Catarina Mota – Research Chair

Catarina is co-founder of Open Materials (do-it-yourself smart materials), Everywhere Tech (open source technology transfer), and AltLab (Lisbon’s hackerspace). She has taught numerous hands-on workshops on hi-tech materials and simple circuitry with the goal of encouraging people with little to no science background to take a proactive interest in science, technology and knowledge-sharing. Catarina is wrapping up her PhD dissertation on the social impact of open and collaborative practices for the development of physical goods and technologies. She is currently a visiting scholar at ITP-NYU, Research Chair at the Open Source Hardware Association, TED Fellow, and member of NYC Resistor.

Nancy Ouyang – Treasurer

Nancy graduated from MIT with a BS in Mechanical Engineering in June 2013 and is now working on her own startup,NarwhalEDU, with her friends Hanna and Cappie. She was formerly president of MITERS, MIT’s hackerspace, and in her spare time worked on things such as Hexacon, the world’s first hexapod conference, and project dx/dt, a documentary film. She likes hexapods, nyancake, narwhals, and naps.

Kellbot – IT Guru

Kelly ”Kellbot” Maguire is a web developer, open source hardware enthusiast, and dedicated knitter. She is an advocate for hands-on learning through hardware hacking. When she is not trying to cajole her knitting machines into working, she can be found watching professional Starcraft matches (yes, that is a thing) and building treehouses in Minecraft.

Aileen Park – Virtual Office Assistant

Aileen is an undergraduate student majoring in Computing and the Arts at The University of California, San Diego. Her main interest in the program revolves around electronic arts, which she was introduced to after taking the appropriately titled Electronic Technologies for Art series. In her free time, she likes to sleep.

The Exceptional Women on Our Board:

Gabriella Levine, President

Gabriella Levine is an artist and hardware designer interested in the relationship between technology and ecology. She studied Biology and Piano at Cornell University and Oberlin College, then worked doing Cancer Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine before abandoning the lab for the outdoors to become a wildland fire fighter based in Oregon. She holds a Masters degree in Design and Technology from ITP at NYU. She creates sculptural and robotic works that mimic environmental phenomena and animal behavior. Current work includes Protei Inc (open source sailing drones), and Sneel.cc (biomimetic swimming snake robots to sense environmental data). She received the 2012 Prix Ars Electronica Hybrid Arts Award, the first Artist in Residence at Instructables, the 2012 Gulfstream Navigator Ocean Exchange Grant, and was a fellow of Unreasonable at Sea. She teaches at ITP and CIID, and has presented globally at symposia and lectures.

Star Simpson

Star often spends her time building electronics, robots, welders, and writing code.

She sails, climbs, cycles, mountain bikes, or soars, whenever she can.

She studied electrical engineering at MIT.

Danese Cooper

Danese has a long history of advocacy for open-source, earning her the nickname “Open Source Diva”. She is a Board Member at Drupal Association, an Open Source Strategist (consulting) at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, an Emeritus Board Member / Observer at Open Source Initiative (OSI), and a Member at The Apache Software Foundation. Previously, she was Chief Technical Officer of the Wikimedia Foundation and, for six years, an open source advocate at Sun Microsystems.

Addie Wagenknecht, Co-Chair, Open Hardware Summit (2013-2014)

Addie Wagenknecht completed a Masters at New York University as a Wasserman Scholar and shortly after held fellowships at Eyebeam Atelier, CultureLab UK and more recently at HyperWerk Institute for Post-Industrial Design as well as Carnegie Mellon University STUDIO for Creative Inquiry. She is currently a Mozilla Open(art) Fellow, an artist at Free Art and Technology Lab a.k.a. F.A.T. Lab as well as co-founder of NORTD labs who created the open source lasercutter Lasersaur. Addie is a professor in robotics and open source computation at the institut für experimentelle architektur hochbau at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. Wagenknecht’s research, collaborations and projects are documented in a number of academic papers, books and magazines such as the Economist, Forbes, Popular Mechanics, MIT Technology Review, Gizmodo, Slashdot, Engadget, Heise, ARTnews and Der Standard.

Honorary Board Observer:

Wendy Seltzer

Wendy is a Fellow with Yale Law School’s Information Society Project, previously a fellow with Princeton University’s Center for Information Technology Policy; the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado; and with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. She was a Visiting Fellow with the Oxford Internet Institute, teaching a joint course with the Said Business School, Media Strategies for a Networked World. She has previously taught at American University’s Washington College of Law, Brooklyn Law School, and Northeastern University School of Law, and served as staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Before joining EFF, she taught Internet Law as an adjunct professor at St. John’s University School of Law, and practiced intellectual property and technology litigation at Kramer Levin in New York.

‘What Is Open Source Hardware’ Infographic

Author : alicia Date : October 8, 2013

Thanks to our friends at DIY Space Exploration for making a new infographic called “What Is Open Source Hardware”

CC share alike attribution: By DIY Space Exploration and graphic artist Adriana Danaila

View the original post here: http://www.diyspaceexploration.com/open-source-hardware/

Welcome New OSHWA Board Members!

Author : alicia Date : September 10, 2013

The votes are in, thank you to those members who voted! In order to make anything official OSHWA always needs to reach quorum (10% of our membership), so your vote counts in more ways than one!

New board members are:

Gabriella Levine, David Mellis, Star Simpson, Jeffery Warren, and Emile Petrone.

Click here to see the data.

Thank you to all who participated in nominations.

OSHWA Board Nominees

Author : alicia Date : August 27, 2013

We have 14 board nominees for the 5 open seats on the OSHWA board. This post is going to get a little a long, so for sanity here’s a PDF spreadsheet of the nominees. As every nominee answered Yes to having 5 hours a month to give to the board, we did not include that question in each nominee’s data. As our bylaws state, members holding an individual membership will get to vote in the 5 new board seats, corporations do not get a vote. The vote will be open Sept. 6th-7th. Members will be emailed a link to vote. Here are the nominees in random order:

Name: Star Simpson

Why do you want to be on the board?

I care a lot about hardware and its openness, and I’d like to be a part of supporting its future. Open hardware is important to me because I feel there is nothing more powerful than being enabled to learn and create. And when we share knowledge, we all become more so enabled.What qualifies you to be a board member?

Do you currently serve on the boards of other organizations?

Not currently.

What qualifies you to be a board member?

I make hardware (largely based around electronics — http://starsimpson.com to see more). I have also cared about open source hardware for quite a long time — I ran the session to discuss a future open hardware license at Foo Camp in 2009. Before that I was president of MIT’s hackerspace, MITERS, where I introduced countless fellow undergrads to the joys of building hardware there.

Do you have an interest in serving as the board President?

Yes

Name: Bryant Patten

Why do you want to be on the board?

Open Hardware represents a huge opportunity for transforming both K-12 education and moving people from passive consumers to active makers. The OSHWA is at the center of this emerging group and is doing the key foundational work to keep the movement healthy and expanding. I would like to help that process in any way possible.

I mean…who wouldn’t want chance to hang out with all these cool people?

Do you currently serve on the boards of other organizations?

Open 1-to-1, Board Member
Open IT Lab, Advisor
Global Education Open Technology Foundation, Board Member

What qualifies you to be a board member?

As the founder of the National Center for Open Source and Education, I have spent the last 10 years advocating for Open Source (software, hardware and data) in schools. I have been an invited speaker at conferences around the world as well as consulting with a variety of clients regarding Open Source issues. Finally, I have started several companies, backed 52 Kickstarter projects and built what may have been the world’s first Internet-connected, arduino-monitored elementary school compost pile.

Do you have an interest in serving as the board President?

Yes.

Name: Marudhachalamurthi

Why do you want to be on the board?

To share my knowledge and guide the team to achieve the organization’s goal.

Do you currently serve on the boards of other organizations?

No. I am new to the board

What qualifies you to be a board member?

Work as Techincal Head and CTO for many organisations

Do you have an interest in serving as the board President?

Yes

Name: Alfredo Herrera

Why do you want to be on the board?

I have been following with interest the evolution of OSHWA, and it is very exciting. I became aware of open source hardware when it was presented as the method to be used by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) in its humanitarian initiatives launched in 2008: to make available Humanitarian Technology designs as open source for the benefit of humanity.
I am nominating myself to the board because I want to put my industry and volunteering experience to work for the benefit of the association. Also, I would like to make available my IEEE network to the benefit of the association to hopefully bring closer together the normalizing activities of the IEEE with the growth efforts of OSHWA. I see a lot of potential benefits to both organizations from a closer association; but I also believe that I have to first commit to learning from the more senior members of OSHWA.

Do you currently serve on the boards of other organizations?

No. Although I have volunteered actively at the IEEE, I am not part of their board nor any other.

What qualifies you to be a board member?

I believe my 16+ years of experience in large telecom organizations (Nortel/Ericsson), and 16+ years of volunteering for the IEEE has trained me for such a role. I am currently a member of the Steering Committee of IEEE’s Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology (SIGHT), and this may enable me to extend the reach of OSHWA to a new population:
http://www.ieee.org/special_interest_group_on_humanitarian_technnology.html

I have also served as:
* vice-chair (2005-2011) and chair (2011-2013) of the IEEE Ottawa chapter of the Technology Management Council.
* Secretary (2008) of the IEEE Ottawa section.
* chair (2007) of the IEEE Workshop on Accelerating Computationally Intensive Applications
* Founder (2009) and chair (2010-2012) of the IEEE Canada Humanitarian Initiatives Committee.

Do you have an interest in serving as the board President?

Name: Max Whitney

Why do you want to be on the board?

I’m a big fan of the Open Source Hardware Association. That’s the fundamental reason. I think open source hardware can be as transformative of devices as open source software has been for code. I’ve been a member at the Brooklyn hackerspace NYC Resistor since the first lease was signed. I’ve watched how having community, workspace and open information has made previously unattainable projects come into being, from 3D printers to telephone controlled pneumatic robotic arms.

Do you currently serve on the boards of other organizations?

I do not.

What qualifies you to be a board member?

There are three sets of experiences that qualify me to be an effective member of the OSHWA board. As the manager of a technology department at a university I’ve learned to navigate politics and budgets at a large non-profit. As a member of the technology and product review boards for the Sakai Foundation (now the Apereo Foundation) I successfully fostered common cause among widely disparate constituencies, including universities, schools and private vendors. As a member of NYC Resistor I’ve learned how to create a healthy community based on consensus.

Do you have an interest in serving as the board President?

Name: Matt Joyce

Why do you want to be on the board?

I believe the Open Source Hardware can work. I believe it is a necessity for some industries to begin to move forward in their own natural economic evolutions.

I’ve always believed that the evolution of technology is very much an organic process. I like using the tree analogy when discussing the importance of Open Source in the market place. When technology is new it sprouts like a fresh new leaf. It’s green, it needs lots of sunlight, and it may not survive for very long. It’s like any good startup. But as that technology matures and grows in use, it turns into a branch. From it sprouts more new technology. And eventually those technologies become their own branches. By that time the technology is a trunk technology from which many branches have grown. Trunk technologies need to be open, standardized, and free for them to be healthy. And their health is a necessity for all the branches and leaves upon which they are depended.

I’d like to help get that point across to folks who maybe don’t understand the importance of OSHW just yet.

Do you currently serve on the boards of other organizations?

Not at this time. In fact, I am not sure anything I’ve ever sat on could be called a ‘board’.

What qualifies you to be a board member?

I’ve got significant background in Open Source. I have been involved with the OpenStack foundation since before it’s inception having worked on the team at NASA that built the nova project and formed with rackspace to create the project.

I’ve build hardware, but I’ve got no financial incentives that will color my decisions as they relate to OSHWA. I keep an open mind, and I prefer numbers to opinions.

Do you have an interest in serving as the board President?

Name: Emile Petrone

Why do you want to be on the board?

Through Tindie, I’m supporting most likely the most open products of anyone (we are approaching 1,000 products and 300 makers). We have a vested interest in the success of open hardware and have built our business around supporting this philosophy.

Do you currently serve on the boards of other organizations?

What qualifies you to be a board member?

The lessons learned from being the CEO and founder of Tindie. I’ve seen hundreds of projects go from an open design to a physical device. The lessons from those experiences I think is invaluable to OSHWA, and members looking to take a project to market.

Do you have an interest in serving as the board President?

Name: Far MCKon

Why do you want to be on the board?

I think OHSWA needs to continue growing, and find a way to become a standards setting organization, much the way IEEE has. I have watched as terms like ‘Organic’ and ‘Whole Foods’ have been perverted because there is no organization at all calling out those who demean or dement the terms.

I think there needs to be some stick (and/or Bad Cop) as part of OSHWA to call out bad actors in our community in a respectful and clear way, and to help set a standard for interoperability, community support, and growth is.

My main interest would be to work to create a OSHWA Bronze/Silver/Gold/Platinum ranking/branding system and partner system. This would work by legally defining several of Phil T’s ‘Unwritten Rules of Open Source’ and would be used as a positive branding solution to highlight the best players in our community.

I would also like to create a ‘OSHWA awards’ to run anti-seasonal to OHS, so there is a spring celebration to keep open source in the related news.

Do you currently serve on the boards of other organizations?

I have been on the board of several organizations (RocWiki.org, Ant Hill Cooperative, The Hacktory, and Hive76), but am not currently on other boards.

What qualifies you to be a board member?

I have a depth of experience in Cooperatives, Hackerspaces, and in running operations for a small business. I understand the incentives of the passion driven developer, as well as the needs of a small business owner/manager.

I also have a clear project I want to accomplish to help grow the OSHWA. I would mostly like to join the board, get the operations set up for the membership/ratings system, create the awards system and host the first awards or two, and finally retire and move on to some other cool idea.

Do you have an interest in serving as the board President?

Name: Jeffrey Warren

Why do you want to be on the board?

Open hardware and open hardware culture are bringing the kind of disruptive change we’ve seen in FOSS to new areas, and I’m cautiously optimistic about its ability to effect widespread change outside the hyper-online crowd. But it’s going to need a broader focus than many of the (still exciting) initial projects which have defined “open hardware” — beyond circuit boards and 3D printing to encompass areas such as agriculture, environmental science, health, and others which have a direct impact on the every day lives of billions. This is already happening, and I want to be part of defining and shaping what open hardware means — and in particular its social, political, and environmental aspects. There’s a great deal of work to be done to make OH more inclusive and to encourage its use to further the agency, equality, and capabilities of all kinds of people, and to inspire young new open hardware contributors to see these technologies as a means to achieve those goals.

Do you currently serve on the boards of other organizations?

I’m on the advisory board for the WeGov project (http://techpresident.com/topics/wegov).

What qualifies you to be a board member?

I’m a co-founder of the Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science (publiclab.org) and have spent a lot of time in the past few years collaborating with hundreds of other Public Lab contributors on open hardware projects. One of my focuses has been to explore and implement a “starter kit” strategy where the Public Lab nonprofit assembles, sells, and distributes DIY kits for several of our major open hardware projects, in order to promote our community’s work, recruit new members, standardize open hardware platforms, and develop a sustainable funding source for the nonprofit’s community programs. This has meant developing retail channels and branding and packaging for tools which remain community-driven and supported, and improving how these objects speak to and support our mission and our open source ethos.

Do you have an interest in serving as the board President?

Name: Gabriella Levine

Why do you want to be on the board?

I am 100% passionate about sharing information to fuel innovation. I am dedicated to working on Open Hardware projects, most significant current work is Protei inc, Open Hardware shape-shifting sailing vessels to explore and preserve oceans, and sneel (sneel.cc), and as a means to explore and define what is Open HW and what is its potential. I have recently worked with many entrepreneurs on the accelerator “Unreasonable at Sea” to define a sustainable business model for Protei, as well as working with Andrew Katz to define a CERN license derivative that will apply to Protei, so I am well versed not only in the technology but also the legal / business implications of OSHW. I am extremely committed to good documentation, sharing knowledge, teaching others to work and engage with design solutions using OSHW (especially arduino , rasp pi, etc) through workshops or courses. I post on Instructables often [http://www.instructables.com/member/gabriellalevine/ ] and my own blog www.levinegabriella.com/category/ongoing/ ]

My biggest passion for work lies in experimenting [coding, wiring etc] on projects using new & appropriated open hardware electronics [beaglebone, rasp pi, arduino due] see my recent post on OSHW fueling innovation: http://tedxnavesink.com/fueling-innovation-through-shared-technology/

I just returned from teaching “exploring biomimetic interfaces” at CIID in copenhagen but a big focus on the course was using OSHW and what its impact is, potential business models, and GOOD DOCUMENTATION: http://www.levinegabriella.com/exploringbiomimicry/ciid
and I will be teaching a similar course at ITP this Fall.

A lot more about me:
I am a creative technologist and open-source hardware designer interested in the relationship between technology and ecology. I create sculptural and robotic works that mimic environmental phenomena and animal behavior. I design modular Open Hardware toolkits for biomimetic robots for environmental exploration and preservation, and to explore how shared information fuels innovation. I am passionate about sharing information, biomimetic robots, PCB’s, electromechanical actuation, wireless sensor networks, coding, good documentation, and inventing creative solutions.

I am COO of Protei Inc, Open Hardware robotic morphological sailboats to clean and explore the oceans, and inventor of Sneel, robotic swimming snakes to explore unknown territories.

I just returned from a radical experiment, circumnavigating the world by boat. I was a Fellow of the Unreasonable at Sea accelerator, exposing Protei to 14 different ports worldwide, while innovating through a design-based approach of the Stanford d. School, through field research, user-testing, design thinking, and hands-on engagement. On the journey, I led global hackathons centered around the topic of building DIY aquatic robots.

I studied Biology and Piano at Cornell University and Oberlin College, then worked doing Cancer Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine before abandoning the lab for the outdoors to become a wildland fire fighter based in Oregon. I hold a Masters degree in Design and Technology from ITP, Tisch School of the Arts, NYU.

Since 2010, I have exhibited work internationally including Ars Electronica, MIT Media Lab, Meta.Morf Electronic Arts Biennial (Norway), and the American Museum of Natural History. I received the 2012 Prix Ars Electronica Hybrid Arts Award, the first Artist in Residence at Instructables, the NYU Task Force Green Grant, and the Gulfstream Navigator Savannah $100K Ocean Exchange Grant. I teach Biomimetic Design courses as a visiting professor at CIID (Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design), and adjunct professor at ITP. I have presented globally at symposia and lectures including the Open Hardware Summit 2011 (NYC), Startup Festival (Bangalore), and Unreasonable at State (US State Department), and soon at TEDxNavesink on “Open Hardware Fueling Innovation and Global Adventures with Open Hardware Robots”. My work has been written up in Wired, InHabitat, HyperAllergic, CNN, Vice Magazine, NY1, and Scientific American.

I freelance as a creative coder, and I am organizing DARC civilian Drone conference in NYC in October.

Do you currently serve on the boards of other organizations?

>>Ocean Exchange advisory board: http://www.oceanexchange.org/ [the ocean exchange supported protei through a 100K grant that I was awarded last year, sponsored by Gulfstream]
>>Director & President of Open H2O: http://open-h2o.org/user?destination=home [open source hardware for the oceans, dedicated to proliferating new open technologies for marine exploration and preservation]
>>COO & on BOD of Protei Inc (protei.org) , shape shifting, open hardware, robotic sailing vessels for ocean preservation and exploration

What qualifies you to be a board member?

I am extremely organized, and I am extremely knowledgeable about OSHW, projects, and OSHW’s implications in business. I have experience building and running companies [open h2o and protei], I have experience doing community development around OSHW projects, as well as many remote meetings via skype to organize, plan, and move ahead with logistical changes to set up companies. I am flexible, cooperative, available, and passionate about working with a team of directors to support OSHWA and move it forward in the most appropriate direction. I am passionate, rational, and impartial, and I believe that I can drive the organization forwards while listening to everyone’s opinions equally. I am good at stepping back and hearing everyone’s wishes and desires, but I am also good at keeping track of time and trying to cooperate to make group decisions in a timely fashion.

Do you have an interest in serving as the board President?

Yes

Name: Alexander Vail

Why do you want to be on the board?

I am a young maker who works for an RC toy company, where I do things like 3d print robots, research new products for us to carry, and build cool things for my bosses. I believe that OSHW is incredibly important for the rapid evolution in technology, and if it becomes the prevalent type of hardware, humans will be able to achieve greater things more rapidly. I see some really amazing things happening with OSHW right now, and wish to contribute more back to the community.

Although none of my work can be shared with the community (yet), I have been showing a lot of my friends about Arduino, 3d printing, automated multirotors (think drones), and whatever else peaks their interests. I want to spread OSHW to young children and show them that the future does not involve patents and copyrights and publishing companies, but does involve innovation, sharing, and freedom to hack, create, and play.

Do you currently serve on the boards of other organizations?

I do not serve on any board for any other organization.

What qualifies you to be a board member?

What qualifies anyone to be a board member? I believe the people on this board are people who are passionate about OSHW, and they want to help spread OSHW so that people can know how awesome it is to share, create, and play! That is what I want to do, in fact, that is what I do! I just want to contribute my energy to the community to work with the community to spread it in a higher amplitude!

Do you have an interest in serving as the board President?

Yes

Name: Zak Homuth

Why do you want to be on the board?

With Michael Woodworth and Stephen Hamer, we created Upverter because we truly believe in the power of open source hardware.

Hobbyists and professional all over the world create awesome pieces of design and great devices. Historically it has been a long and tortuous process. The tools were not adapted, expensive and limited. And there was no place to share ideas and useful pieces of design.

For too long the hardware hackers were not able to collaborate, exchange feedbacks / reviews / advices because they were isolated. And collaboration was totally nonexistent for decades.

We decided to create tools to make hardware creation easier and connect people to help hardware designers achieve their ultimate goal: bring innovative ideas to life and make the world a better place.

I want to be on the board and do everything I can to help and support the hardware open source movement, the maker revolution, and the admirable and dedicated hardware hackers who create new devices and share their work with the community.

Do you currently serve on the boards of other organizations?

Yes, on the board of Upverter.

What qualifies you to be a board member?

I am the CEO of Upverter. Open source hardware is in our DNA. I am a former electrical engineer and a passionate hardware open source designer. I work every day with the team to make hardware creation smoother, easier and faster.

We decided to give our tools for free to hackers willing to share their work with the rest of the world. This is our promise. And I want to do as much as I can to support this community of awesome people!

Do you have an interest in serving as the board President?

Yes

Name: Amnon Aliphas

Why do you want to be on the board?

Networking

Do you currently serve on the boards of other organizations?

ITT Technical Institute school of Electronics

What qualifies you to be a board member?

I am an experienced entrepreneur, founder of DSPWorld and TechOnline (both companies acquired by UBM).

I am also the Chair of the School of Electronics in Wilmington, MA

and I have a Ph.D. in EE from Stanford University

Do you have an interest in serving as the board President?

Name: David Mellis

Why do you want to be on the board?

I’m interested in developing and promoting open-source hardware in a number of different ways:

1. Collecting and sharing best practices for open-source hardware and promoting it as a strategy for product development.

2. Continuing to extend open-source hardware to domains beyond electronic circuit boards: e.g. machines, furniture, consumer products, etc.

3. Promoting personal manufacturing that builds on and contributes to open-source hardware, particularly by exploring strategies for handling regulations (e.g. FCC or USB) that pose difficulties for small-volume production.

4. Improving the legal basis for open-source hardware, both through the continued development of open-source hardware licenses and through the development of strategies for handling patents and open-source hardware.

Do you currently serve on the boards of other organizations?

No.

What qualifies you to be a board member?

I have experience with open-source hardware on both a practical and theoretical level. As a co-founder of the Arduino electronics prototyping platform, I’ve seen first-hand the opportunities and challenges of open-source hardware. As a PhD student at the MIT Media Lab, I’ve been developing open-source consumer electronic products and publishing research on open-source hardware.

I’ve also been closely involved with the Open Source Hardware Association and its precursors. I helped to draft the open-source hardware statement of principles and definition and to edit the OSHWA frequently-asked questions and best practices document. I was the review chair for the Open Hardware Summit in 2011 and 2012, helping to shape the program for the event. I helped to compose the open-source hardware community survey.

In short, I’ve been deeply involved in both open-source hardware and the Open-Source Hardware Association, giving me the experience to help them prosper in the future.

Do you have an interest in serving as the board President?