Post-summit chats update 

The Maker Mind Meld Summit is still in progress, with several post-summit chats completed, and a few more pending.

In these post-summit chats, I ask participating presenters questions from the audience.

So far, I have completed chats with:

• Zafar Iqbal
• Mark Wilson
• Norman Pirollo
• Dr Karsten Schulz
• João Alves
• Vladimir Mariano
• Prof Jorge de Sousa Pires

I have included the audience questions for each presenter below.

You can find the video recordings in the Summit VIP area, in the respective presentation pages.

There are a few more post-summit chats yet to come. I will update this page as the videos recordings become available.

Questions for Zafar Iqbal

1. Michael: How much of your work with the Arduino spills over to your day work?
2. Emma: How is your progress with the Turing Machine Mark II?
3. Anthony: How much planning and research do you do when you start a new challenging project?
4. Mich: I’m thinking of participating in a mini-maker fair in my town. I have a couple of projects I can demo. Do you have any advice for me?
5. John: How much time do you spent tinkering per week?

Questions for Mark Wilson

1. Kim: what are you top 3 tips for reducing RAM and Flash usage on an Arduino Uno?
2. Nicholas: I looked in the Flick Clock source code and I can see that you are using the ILI948x library. Would you be able to remove it, and just use your own custom code so you can save a bit of memory? Or, maybe you have?
3. David: I am confused by all the low-level C programming that contains references to registers etc. Where can I learn how to program like that?
4. Jamie: What is #pragma, that I see at the top of your Flip Clock project files?

Questions for Norman Pirollo

1. Josh: I live in an apartment, and have no space for large tools, especially power tools. I have found Kumiko kits that require only glue to put together. Would I be cheating if I start with something like this? (https://japan-design.imazy.net/en/crafts/hand-made-kit/kumiko-kit/)
2. Richard: I did some Googling and found kits that contain simple Japanese woodworking tools (https://www.japanesetools.com.au/products/kumiko-and-shoji-frame-marking-and-cutting-kit). I am unsure which tools I really need to get started, and I’m reluctant to commit because of their price. In your opinion, what is the minimum tool set for a beginner?
3. Blake: Is there a good Kumiko book that I can use as a resource? I am mainly interested in learning about different Kumiko patterns.
4. Maria: After watching your presentation, I did some research on Kumiko. It seems that there are a lot of Kumiko-named products out there. Some of them look like Lego but with wood. What do you think is the essense of Kumiko? http://www.wasabijapan.co.jp/en/products/kumikokit_en.html
5. Peter: Apart from Kumiko, can you tell us about other kinds of art woodworking that originate from other parts of the world?

Questions for Dr Karsten Schulz

1. Emmie: I’m a high-school student, interested in a career in electrical engineering. I’m not very strong in mathematics, but I really like robotics. Do you have any advice for me, like what kind of degree I should go after? Also, how can I get better at math? OK
2. Rajveer: I’m a teacher in Canada. In our school, we have a small maker space where our students play with Arduinos and create simple gadgets. We use the Arduino primary to teach programming. I impressed with the B4 computer. Even though computer engineering is not required curriculum, I suspect there are benefits in understanding how computers work. How could we integrate the B4 along the established Arduino work that we do? OK
3. David: I’m a teacher, curious about the B4. I teach year 11 and 12 students (around 15 years old). Do you suggest a progression plan? My students can write Python and Javascript, but apart from wiring Arduino circuits they have no experience in engineering. I am thinking that the B4 can succeed as an introduction to computer engineering. OK
4. Kris: In Australia, the one of the teaching outcomes is programming(Digital technologies curriculum), and there is no specific requirement about electronics or computer engineering. What is the advantage of allocating time to teaching low-level concepts like the ones you showed in the presentation?

Questions for João Alves

1. Amir: I really like how you are documenting your work in your website. Can you give us some details about how you’ve made it?
2. Alvin: What is happening with CSEduino today? Any plans for a new version?
3. Nicolas: I only have very basic knowledge of electronics. Should I do some work on that first, and then work on my first PCB?
4. Lara: I’m interested in helping setup a hacker space like altLab. Can you tell us how altLab begun, and how it grew? How is it funded?
5. Willie: What are you working on at the moment?
6. Mario: Where do you manufacture your PCBs? I am based in Europe.
7. Oskar: Have you created PCBs with 4 or more layers? If yes, any pointers? Also, have you ever had problems with high-frequency signals?
8. Peter D: How do you plan work on a complex project?

Questions for Vladimir Mariano

1. Michael: I have a preference for open source applications when possible. FreeCad seems to be a good option. Have you used FreeCad? Can you compare it to Fusion360?
2. Michael: Blender and Wings3D also seems to be a very good open-source options. In your opinion, why should I even consider learning Fusion 360?
3. James: I really liked your presentation and actually have designed my first simple 3D object. Now I want to print it. I have a limited budget for a printer and filament. Can you recommend a good entry-level printer? and, what is the easiest filament to work with?
4. Douglas: What are the most important features I should be looking in a budget 3D printer?
5. John: Do you see any ground-breaking developments in the 3D printing industry?

Questions for Prof Jorge de Sousa Pires

1. Bernand: As an educator, what are some of the most important skills we should instil in our children?
2. John: In your presentation, you said “Think about where technology is leading us.”. Where do you think that technology is leading us as individuals and as a society?
3. Bruce: Are you worried about intelligent machines taking over the world?