Join the OpenLab and Make Your Mark in the Public Domain

Eyebeam is now accepting applications for the next round of R&D Fellows in the R&D OpenLab. We are looking for hardware and software hackers, techno arts-and-craftsters, and all types of open source makers to come to New York City and develop experimental creative technologies and media. The OpenLab represents an opportunity for selected individuals to work in a state-of-the-art digital fabrication laboratory, to collaborate with a range of talented technologists and artists from diverse and hybrid backgrounds, to gain international exposure for innovative work and to directly enrich the global DIY community, free culture and the public domain. Join past OpenLab Fellows and projects like MintyBoost, OGLE (OpenGLExtractor), SlashLinks, LED Throwies, Contagious Media and FundRace and make your mark in the Public Domain.

Call for Fellows

The Eyebeam OpenLab is seeking a new round of R&D Fellows to work on experimental creative technology projects. We want artists, hackers, designers, craftsters, and engineers to come to Eyebeam for a year to develop pioneering work in the public domain.

The ideal fellow has experience creating innovative technology and/or media, a love of collaborative development, and a desire to distribute his or her work as widely and openly as possible. Fellows are expected to bring both technical and creative skills to bear on a range of self-directed and group projects. The fellowship is a unique opportunity to participate in a new kind of research environment and contribute to the public domain.

This call is part of the larger Eyebeam Call for Fellows, which can be seen here.

Open Licenses

All work created within the OpenLab will be widely distributed and freely available under open licenses and without patents. All code will be released under GPL, media will be released under Creative Commons, and hardware projects and processes will be fully documented released in the form of Do-It-Yourself instruction sets.

Previous Work

The Open Lab builds on previous work developed within Eyebeam R&D. Some earlier projects include:

OGLE (OpenGLExtractor), SlashLinks, Graffiti Research Lab, MidiSense, MintyBoost, DeTouch, reBlog, ForwardTrack, FundRace, Contagious Media, Social Network Soiree, ACCESS, Carnivore, Noderunner

Extended project information is available on the R&D Areas of Research page

Facilities

The new Open Lab facilities are directly adjacent to a public gallery. Tools include a laser cutter, 3D printer, fully equipped electronics workbenches, multiple co-located servers, and general supplies. We also have a budget to requisition equipment to realize specific projects.

Research Themes

Research themes include (though will not be limited to):
– Energy, Technology and Sustainability;
– Urban research, urban interventions and media in public space.

Artists and creative technologists interested in these research areas are particularly encouraged to apply for 2006/07 Fellowships.

Application

If you are interested in applying, please go to: http://eyebeam.org/production/onlineapp/join_detail.php?program_id=726662

Please make sure to review the Eyebeam Call for Fellows as part of filing your application.

R&D OpenLab Advisory Committee

The 2006-07 R&D OpenLab Advisory Committee has been invited to convene and review short-listed applications in order to inform the final selection of Fellows. The esteemed members of the Advisory Committee have been asked to participate because of their knowledge of and innovative work in the disciplines of art, science and engineering, as well as their advocacy for the principles of open knowledge and open source. Their bodies of work can be thought of as ideal examples of the type of creative and socially relevant technology and media development that the OpenLab strives to produce for the public domain. The 2006-07 Advisory Committee is:

Ward Cunningham

Ward Cunningham is a computer programmer. To many he is best known as the inventor of the first wiki, which is called WikiWikiWeb. He is considered a pioneer in patterns and Extreme Programming, and contributed significantly to the developing practices of object-oriented programming. Ward started his own web site software consultancy, Cunningham and Cunningham, and has worked for Microsoft Corporation in the “patterns & practices” group. Currently, he is the Director of Committer Community Development at the Eclipse Foundation.

Mel King

Mel King is a former Massachusetts State Representative and the Director of the South End Technology Center in Boston. He established the SETC in collaboration with the Tent City Corporation and the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning, where he was the Director of the Community Fellows Program. Mel has had a distinguished career as a community activist, and policy-maker creating innovative programs and legislation in the areas of affordable housing, education, employment, equal rights and equal access. With the SETC and the Boston Fab Lab, he is currently working to enable community residents to become producers and sharers of information, by providing free and low-cost access to and training in computer technologies.

Natalie Jeremijenko

Natalie Jeremijenko is a new media artist and designer. Her work includes digital, electromechanical, interactive and biotechnological systems. She did graduate engineering studies at Stanford University in Mechanical Engineering, and at the University of Melbourne in the History and Philosophy of Science Department. Her Ph.D. is in the Dept of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Queensland. She was a 1999 Rockefeller fellow and was named one of the top one hundred young innovators by the MIT Technology Review. Her work has been exhibited and installed all over the world, most recently in the 2006 Whitney Biennial. She has been known to work in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Yale, the Media Research Lab at NYU, the Department of Visual Arts at UCSD and the Bureau of Inverse Technology.

Saul Griffith and Eric Wilhelm from SQUID Labs

Saul Griffith is an MIT alumnus with multiple degrees in Materials Engineering and Mechanical Engineering and has recently completed his PhD. He is the co-founder of Low Cost Eyeglasses, a company using two novel technologies he developed to provide prescription eye care at low cost for rural and developing communities. He was awarded the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame, Collegiate Inventors award and has received numerous other awards in design and engineering.Saul is a co-founder of SQUID Labs.

Eric Wilhelm received his BS, MS and PhD from MIT. His research focuses on new printing techniques for manufacturing flexible electronics and micro-electromechanical systems. He was awarded the 2000 Collegiate Inventor’s Award, with Colin Bulthaup, for the development of a printing technique known as liquid embossing. Previously, Eric built robotic systems for combinatorial drug discovery with Solid Phase Synthesis Corporation. Eric is a co-founder of SQUID Labs where he runs Instructables, an online social collaboration tool for documenting and sharing your DIY ideas and projects.