Published: June 16, 2022

Shanel WuATLAS PhD Candidate Shanel WuÌý(they/them)Ìýrecently was awarded a $50,000ÌýOpen Source Hardware Association (OSHWA) Traiblazer Fellowship. The Fellowship beganÌýthis summer and ends in June 2023.Ìý

Wu, a member of Assistant Professor Laura Devendorf'²õÌýUnstable Design Lab, will use the fellowship to support their dissertation project, making open hardware interfaces for the loom and using that as a case study to explore issues of doing open hardware in academia.

According to the OSHWA website, the call for Trailblazer Fellows was "incredibly competitive." The fellows were chosen by the program’s mentors and an OSHWA board selection committee.Ìý

Wu researche²õÌýsmart textiles, wearable electronics, and sustainable futures for these technologies,Ìýcontributing to the lab’s open-source weaving design software,ÌýAdaCAD, and open textbook forÌý. Devendorf is Wu’s PhD advisor, and will also be a partner on the fellowship, representing the lab’s introduction to open hardware.

Wu received their Bachelor of Science in physics fromÌýHarvey Mudd College, with a focus on applications to computing technologies. Of note, they also became a self-taughtÌýfiber artistÌýduring their undergraduate years, which informs their current research focus on textile-based circuitry and fabrication. Whether their hands are working with yarn, solder, fabric, or silicon, Wu embraces an open-source philosophy as a way to meld STEAM and community-driven social justice.Ìý

Thanks to the generous support of theÌýAlfred P. Sloan Foundation, OSHWA is taking a giant step towards expanding open source hardware in academia through the Open Hardware Trailblazer Fellows initiative. The one-year fellowship provides grants to individuals who are leading the way a²õÌýopen source hardwareÌýexpands into academia. The fellows will document their experience of making open source hardware in academia to create a library of resources for others to follow.Ìý

RepostedÌýin part from the .