Our 2024 Open Hardware Summit Fellows made possible by Huaishu Peng, and generous donations from Super Attendee Summit ticket sales.
This year the Fellowship was partial funded by Avnet Cares which allowed our fellows to have both a travel stipend and a professional development fund
Kari Love
Kari Setsuko Love is a Brooklyn-based artist who makes tech-enabled mixed media pieces that demystify technology and ask the question “Who does technology belong to?” She blends her experience as a professional costumer, a NASA space suit contractor, and from co-writing a book on DIY soft robotics to make projects that engage all 5 senses and sometimes even become a part of the user.
Alyshia Bustos
Alyshia Bustos is Ph.D. student in the Computer Science Department at the University of New Mexico. She is an interaction design researcher whose work focuses on HCI, ubiquitous computing, and technology education. She is also is the lead graduate student on the Interactive Mural project and is working on new technology to teach and engage diverse youth in computer science.
Bri Johns
Bri (she/they) has years of experience working at the crossroads of science, technology, and community organizing, and currently serves as the community coordinator for the Gathering for Open Science Hardware (GOSH). This dynamic community is a global network of artists, researchers, activists, hackers, and hardware developers with a clear mission: we aim to make open science hardware ubiquitous by 2025. In addition, Bri co-founded Queer Science!, an award-nominated podcast that explores the intersection of science, society, and queerness. **Bri is also an active member of The International Society of Nonbinary Scientists (ISNBS), co-chair of the open source Special Interest Group (SIG) for the Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement (CSCCE), and occasionally performs as a drag artist.
Find out more about Bri by visiting their website!
Simon Asare
Simon is an Asante, a proud son of Africa with a brilliant mind and an adventurous spirit. As a Computer Engineer, he thrives on the challenge of enhancing the world around him. He is passionate about life, and seizes every opportunity to create a positive impact on people and the planet while also driving entrepreneurial success. With over a decade of experience, Simon is recognized for his adeptness in business development and his invaluable contributions to Africa’s technology and startup landscape. He has played diverse roles within this industry, serving as a catalyst for ecosystem growth.
Currently pursuing a master’s degree in Information Communication Systems at the esteemed Technical University of Chemnitz, Simon’s academic pursuits complement his real-world endeavors. Alongside his studies, he works at Ibes AG, a leading IT firm in Germany. Simon’s work at Ibes revolves around designing and implementing cutting-edge E-Governance solutions tailored to the unique needs of African nations.
Having weathered life’s storms and savored its fleeting joys, Simon finds solace in music and holds a deep appreciation for its power. In essence, he embodies stoicism and embraces the journey fate has laid before him.
Tee Kundu
Tee works as an artist, illustrator and designer. They mostly draw things. They are interdisciplinary and often work in social practice, performance, zines, facilitation, code, etc. A being of love and chaos, they are a storyteller and want to make helpful things. A DIY dabbler, they are currently recovering from burnout and moving like a snail. You can email them at teekundu@gmail.com, or visit their website at teekundu.com
Giulia Tomasello
Giulia Tomasello is an interaction designer and educator committed to female intimate care and its innovation. Founder of ALMA Futura, a research and consulting studio where design, science and anthropology combine to co-create tools for a cultural and radical change in womxn’s bodies. In 2018 with the project Future Flora, she won the STARTS Prize, a European award assigned to projects representing “innovative alliances between technology and artistic practices”. Her multidisciplinary work has also received other awards at European and international levels such as the World Omosiroi Japanese Award in 2020.
Giulia offers a new deeper understanding in female’s wellbeing and prevention, developing innovative tools at the intersection of medical and social sciences. She is co-founder of the Bruixes-Lab collective [nomadic lab of bio-hacking, sx-tech and witchcraft rituals], Hogar [cultural association focused on gender health and performance] and Tides project [sexual wellness brand for women in mid-life]. Coded Bodies is her teaching platform designed to learn the basics of wearable technology, materials innovation and the exploration of biological textiles. Since 2017, she has been teaching in several Italian and European universities such as Politecnico di Milano, Royal College of Arts in London and Head in Geneva. She currently lectures at the Domus Academy in Milan, the Academy of Fine Arts in Perugia and the Kunstuniversität in Linz.
Kurva Prashanth
Kurva Prashanth works as a Research Assistant in the Robotics Research Center at the Kohli Center on Intelligent Systems, IIIT Hyderabad. He is currently engaged in studying bird flight and flapping wings, with a focus on designing a mechanism to mimic bird flight behavior and understand the natural movement of flapping wings. He is also passionate about promoting equitable education and is enthusiastic about STEM subjects, particularly in the context of building robots and sensor applications.
Prashanth was introduced to Open Hardware and Embedded Linux while studying electronics and embedded systems as part of his robotics coursework. Initially, he did not pay much attention to it and quickly moved on. However, a short talk on “Liberating SBCs using Debian” by Yuvraj at MiniDebConf India 2021 caught his interest. The talk focused on Open Hardware platforms such as Olimex and BeagleBone Black, as well
as the Debian distributions tailored for these ARM-based single-board computers. This talk intrigued him to delve deeper into the realm of Open Hardware and Embedded Linux. These days he is trying to improve his abilities to contribute to Open Hardware development board projects and Debian.
Juan Pedro Maestre Wic
Hi y’all! I am an environmental scientist living in Texas who works on projects to improve the health and wellbeing of undeserved communities. At The University or Texas at Austin, I research water and air quality and do outreach to bring our latest scientific advances to underprivileged schools via hands on activities. With the UT-Austin Whole Communities Whole Health project, our team created the open hardware Air Quality Beacon, which is being deployed in the field, gathering air quality data in homes. I am member of the GOSH community, for which I am extremely grateful as they introduced me to open hardware. I am very excited to be a member of this community too. I come to you from the University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA but Spain is my native.
Suvi Candra
Suvi is an undergraduate student at Western University studying Electrical Engineering. She was first introduced to Open Source Hardware through the Free Appropriate Sustainable Technology (FAST) research group as a student researcher. Her work and interests include 3D printing, PCB design, and hands-on work with microelectronics. After working in an industry where proprietary hardware is the standard and seeing first-hand how open hardware could benefit on a large scale, her passion for open-source hardware grew.
Germain Hirwa
I’m a Computer Science and Economics double major at Swarthmore College, currently in my Freshman year. My passion lies in the world of technology, and I’m on a mission to leverage my skills and knowledge to make a real impact in the tech industry.
I’m particularly intrigued by the limitless possibilities at the intersection of computer science and innovation. I’m eager to dive into areas like software engineering, machine learning, and Artificial Intelligence and I’m actively seeking opportunities and internships to challenge and allow me to contribute to cutting-edge projects.
Our fellowship program includes a travel stipend and mentorship program for marginalized people in open hardware.
Are you a marginalized person who loves open source? Apply for our Summit Fellowship and receive a 500$ travel stipend and mentorship in your open source journey leading up to the 2024 Open Hardware Summit
Applications are closed for this year.
Past fellow can be found here:
2022, 2023
The Summit Fellowship was founded as The Ada Lovelace Fellowship in 2013 prior to the annual Open Hardware Summit at MIT by Summit Chair Addie Wagenknecht and OSHWA Director Alicia Gibb as a way to encourage marginalized people in open technology and culture to actively participate and foster a more diverse community within open source.