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Dozens of Early Stage Products Share the Stage at Hardware Innovation Workshop – Smart, Diverse Maker Pro Projects Underscore Hardware’s Dominance in Innovation

SEBASTOPOL, CA–(Marketwired – May 1, 2013) – Is hardware the new software? From the looks of the products and prototypes slated for demonstration at the second MAKE Hardware Innovation Workshop, presented by GE, May 14-15 at the College of San Mateo in San Mateo, CA, it is. Nearly two dozen startups will participate in the Innovation Showcase and another lucky thirteen will compete in the “Pitch with Prototype” contest on Tuesday, May 14, to see which of the new hardware ideas grab the attention of the attendees including top VC firms, hardware incubators and accelerators, leading tool and technology providers, and other maker entrepreneurs.

“Hardware is back and makers are driving it,” said Dale Dougherty, founder and publisher of MAKE magazine and CEO of Maker Media. “Signs of the keen focus on the business of making are all around. From the increasing number of hardware startup meetups around the globe, to the market for personal 3D printers, to the size of the latest funding rounds secured by young maker companies, makers are using open hardware to fuel innovation.”

Makers placing their products on display in the Innovation Showcase include two new microcontroller board companies: Pinoccio and Electric Imp, both platforms to connect almost anything to the Internet to create new devices. A drone company called Skycatch hopes to redefine the concept of security systems for logistics at construction sites and seaports. ArduSat is a DIY satellite built with an Arduino and some sensors, and MakieLab offers the ultimate toy shop: design your own customized dolls, soldiers, and action figures.

Startups in the Innovation Showcase include:

  • ArduSat
  • Bia Sport
  • Circuits i.o.
  • Dash Robotics
  • Dynamo Development Labs
  • Electric Imp
  • Lockitron
  • LumiGeek
  • Lumio
  • MakieLab
  • Nomiku
  • OpenXC, Ford Motor Company’s Silicon Valley Lab
  • Pebble
  • Pinoccio
  • Robot Garden
  • SandBoxr
  • Scout Alarm
  • Skycatch
  • SMLD (State Machine Logic Demonstrator)
  • Solar Pocket Factory
  • Tesseract Industrial

“The founders of Pinoccio were at the first Hardware Innovation Workshop and now, a year later, are back as a startup company with an exciting new product of their own,” said Dougherty. “The submissions for our ‘Pitch with Prototype’ segment are equally inspiring. The ideas range from creative products for consumers and green energy enthusiasts to new solutions for businesses. With names like Foldimate, Solar Outdoor Robot and Lumiglass, they sound ready to go-to-market tomorrow.”

On Wednesday, May 15, over 30 speakers will share the stage offering business insights into manufacturing options for startups, collaborative strategies from funding to production to distribution and marketing, and the latest in maker tools and technologies.

Workshop speakers include recognized leaders from the maker movement such as Massimo Banzi, co-founder of Arduino; Chris Anderson, founder and CEO of 3D Robotics and DIY Drones; Ted Hall, founder and CEO of ShopBot Tools, and Ben Kaufman, founder and CEO of Quirky. For a complete lineup of speakers and agenda details, and to register for the 2013 MAKE Hardware Innovation Workshop, visit: makezine.com/hardware-innovation-workshop

A special discount has been secured at the Hyatt Regency SFO for the event. For reservations, click here.

The MAKE Hardware Innovation Workshop is presented by GE, and sponsored by Google for Entrepreneurs and ShopBot, as well as media sponsor Engadget.

New Wave of Maker-Led Innovation Revealed as Hardware Innovation Workshop, May 14-15, Explores Business of Making and Makers in Business

SEBASTOPOL, CA–(Marketwired – Apr 11, 2013) – New hardware products and services and the makers creating them will be the focus of the second MAKE Hardware Innovation Workshop, presented by GE, May 14-15 at the College of San Mateo in San Mateo, CA. Over 30 speakers will take the stage, offering business insights into manufacturing options for startups, and collaborative strategies from funding to production to distribution and marketing. VCs will discuss which products get their attention and why, and entrepreneurial makers will share lessons learned from starting new businesses.

“In the last year, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of startups and early stage products coming out of the maker community as a result of a growing ecosystem made up of tools like 3D printers, platforms like Arduino and Raspberry Pi, and software for advanced manufacturing,” said Dale Dougherty, CEO of Maker Media and founder and publisher of MAKE.

Workshop speakers include recognized leaders from the maker movement such as Massimo Banzi, co-founder of Arduino; Chris Anderson, founder and CEO of 3D Robotics and DIY Drones; Bunnie Huang, co-founder of Chumby; Jay Silver, founder of MaKey MaKey; and Zach Kaplan, founder and CEO of Inventables. In addition, partners from leading VC firms, and accelerators and incubators that focus primarily on hardware innovation will share their insights and strategies.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is being realized by makers as a way to connect almost anything to the Internet to create new devices: Pinoccio is a new IoT platform for makers to build a variety of devices; Nomiku is a new kind of cooking device that lets anyone affordably use the cooking techniques of top chefs, and achieve the same result; and, Cosmogia is an Arduino-controlled nanosatellite that, with a few Arduino boards and sensors, reduces the cost of building satellites. These startups, and dozens of others, will have their early stage products, projects and devices on display at the Innovation Showcase, which caps off the first day of the Workshop.

Advanced Manufacturing

The Maker Pro Manufacturing Workshop, a separate three-hour session provides insight into the business ecosystem for makers and will be presented by experts in small, medium and large scale manufacturing. Participants can bring their prototypes to the workshop and presenters will recommend optimal ways to produce their products and distribute them to their target customers.

“We’re also seeing a transformation taking place as hobbyist makers see an easier path through access to startup capital from crowdfunding sites, and accelerators and incubators that specialize in hardware companies,” said Dougherty.

Other featured speakers include:

  • Kai Backman, co-founder, Airstone Labs
  • Carl Bass, CEO, Autodesk
  • Chris Boshuizen, founder, Cosmogia
  • Tim Chang, partner, Mayfield Fund
  • Jeremy Conrad, founding partner, Lemnos Lab
  • John Dimatos, Kickstarter
  • Brook Drumm, founder and CEO, Printrbot
  • Robert Faludi, collaborative strategy leader, Digi International
  • Brady Forrest, PCH International
  • Alden Hart, CTO, Ten Mile Square
  • Zak Homuth, founder and CEO, Upverter
  • Eric Jennings & Sally Carson, co-founders, Pinoccio
  • Rachel Kalmar, data scientist, Misfit Wearables
  • Ben Kaufman, founder and CEO, Quirky
  • Eric Klein, Entrepreneur-in-residence, OATV
  • Manu Kumar, founder and chief firestarter, K9 Ventures
  • David Lang, co-founder, OpenROV
  • Dave Merrill, co-founder and president, Sifteo
  • Scott Miller, CEO and co-founder, Dragon Innovation
  • James “Laen” Neal, OSH Park PCB
  • John Park, COO/GM, AQS
  • Nick Pinkston, founder, Plethora
  • Lisa Qui, co-founder, Nomiku
  • Renata Quintini, partner, Felicis-Ventures
  • Dan Roberts, founder, Scout Alarm
  • Zach Smith, program director, HAXLR8R
  • Robert Stephens, founder, Geek Squad
  • Trae Vassallo, general partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
  • Eric Weddington, marketing manager, Atmel
  • Peter Weijmarshausen, co-founder and CEO, Shapeways

The MAKE Hardware Innovation Workshop is presented by GE, and sponsored by ShopBot and media sponsor Engadget. For more details about the event and to register for the 2013 MAKE Hardware Innovation Workshop, visit: makezine.com/hardware-innovation-workshop

About MAKER MEDIA

Maker Media is a global platform for connecting makers with each other, with products and services, and with our partners. Through media, events and ecommerce, Maker Media serves a growing community of makers who bring a DIY mindset to technology. Whether as hobbyists or professionals, makers are creative, resourceful and curious, developing projects that demonstrate how they can interact with the world around them. The launch of MAKE Magazine in 2005, followed by Maker Faire in 2006, jumpstarted a worldwide Maker Movement, which is transforming innovation, culture and education. Located in Sebastopol, CA, Maker Media is the publisher of MAKE Magazine and the producer of Maker Faire. It also develops “getting started” kits and books that are sold in its Maker Shed store as well as in retail channels.

MAKE Wins FAME Award for Hardware Innovation Workshop Premiere Event
New Maker Media Starts 2013 With Slew of Awards From FOLIO, min, and KAPi

SEBASTOPOL, CA–(Marketwire – Mar 14, 2013) – Maker Media, Inc., the newly formed company spun out from O’Reilly Media on January 1, started out the new year — and its new life as an independent company — with a profusion of awards and nominations. Most recently, MAKE garnered honorable mentions in two categories and was named a winner for Best First Time Event in the Folio and min FAME Awards which recognizes “the best of the best” in magazine media events. MAKE’s Maker Camp on Google+, a virtual summer camp for teens hosted on the Google social media platform received a finalist nod from min for the Best of the Web awards which recognize excellence in digital initiatives. At the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Dale Dougherty, CEO of Maker Media, and founder and publisher of MAKE magazine received a KAPi “pioneer” award for innovation in children’s technology.

“It’s very gratifying to receive industry recognition on important initiatives that define our brand in terms of the community, content and collaboration we’re committed to delivering for our maker audience. From our newer efforts like the Hardware Innovation Workshop and Maker Camp to our legacy Maker Faire, this acknowledgement lets us know that we’re getting it right and our peers recognize that,” said Sherry Huss, vice president of Maker Media.

Winner, FOLIO FAME Awards for Best First Time Event

Honorable Mention, FOLIO FAME Awards for Best Overall Single Event (B-to-B)

MAKE Magazine – Hardware Innovation Workshop

MAKE magazine presented its premiere Make: Hardware Innovation Workshop, May 15-16, 2012, hosting over 200 members of the maker community, venture investors, technology leaders and academicians at the historic PARC facility in Palo Alto. The program featured over 30 speakers, a veritable who’s who at the forefront of the maker movement, and hosted 25 startups in its Innovation Showcase of new open source hardware product and project demonstrations.

Honorable Mention, FOLIO FAME Awards for Best Overall Single Event (B-to-C)

Adafruit’s Limor Fried, Phillip Torrone Featured Keynotes for MAKE Conference Lineup Includes Who’s Who in Maker Movement for Hardware Innovation Workshop

SEBASTOPOL, April 26, 2012 – MAKE, the media brand devoted to the growing community of makers who create, build, design, tinker, hack, and invent, announced that Adafruit Industries’ founder Limor Fried and creative director Phillip Torrone will kick-off its premiere business conference, the MAKE Hardware Innovation Workshop, May 15-16 at PARC, a Xerox Company in Palo Alto, CA.

“Phil and I are excited to visit the birth place of modern personal computing to speak about what might be the beginning of modern personal fabrication. MAKE is a leader in the maker space and has supported open source companies like Adafruit since its inception,” said Limor Fried, founder of Adafruit Industries.

“We’re delighted that Limor and Phillip will open our first business conference exploring the significant impact that hardware innovation is having on the future of core business practices such as manufacturing and accelerated prototyping,” said Dale Dougherty, founder and publisher of MAKE magazine and co-founder of O’Reilly Media. “Limor and Phillip were early pioneers and are maker icons who have built a very successful business.”

Dougherty and Tim O’Reilly, founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media, will co-host the conference at the historic Palo Alto venue, renown for product innovation from the graphical user interface to the mouse and laser printer. The event will explore how the maker movement is transforming business. An innovation showcase of 25 hardware startups, including five 3D printer companies as well as promising medical devices that could change the life of chronic health conditions like asthma, will follow keynotes from Fried and Torrone.

“Some of these early hardware innovations have great promise as diagnostic tools in the healthcare industry and others will impact the pace that industries can bring products to market, at lower cost to themselves and ultimately consumers,” added Dougherty.

Some of the companies participating in the showcase are being funded by new capital strategies such as crowdfunding, which is one of the core themes of the program. Other topics include open source hardware; collaborative design; and, personal manufacturing and fabrication tools and techniques.

Other featured keynotes include Massimo Banzi, co-founder of Arduino; Carl Bass, president and CEO of Autodesk; Jay Rogers, founder and CEO of Local Motors; Mark Hatch, co-founder and CEO of TechShop; Ted Hall, co-founder and president of ShopBot; and, Brad Feld, co-founder of Foundry Group.

SEBASTOPOL, CA April 12, 2012 – MAKE, the media brand and magazine devoted to the growing community of makers who create, build, design, tinker, hack, and invent, will host a workshop May 15-16, 2012 to explore the defining characteristics of the maker movement sweeping the country, and why it has the potential to fundamentally change business processes, from prototyping and manufacturing to sourcing.

“There are three contributing factors that distinguish the innovations of the maker movement from past technological shifts impacting business: open source hardware, collaboration in design, and new fabrication tools,” says Dale Dougherty, founder and publisher of the MAKE division of O’Reilly Media.

“As open source software did for the rapid proliferation and growth of the web economy, open source hardware has been the key driver inspiring innovation in design, products, and devices from makers at the forefront of the movement,” Dougherty adds. “Already we are seeing its impact in critical areas dependent on new technology, like medical devices and scientific instrumentation.”

The premiere event will be held at PARC, a Xerox company in Palo Alto, that has its own legacy as a source of technology innovation. Held the week leading up to Maker Faire in the Bay Area, the business conference will also feature makers who will be displaying their projects the following weekend, May 19-20, 2012, at Maker Faire (makerfaire.com). Registration for the MAKE Hardware Innovation Workshop (makezine.com/go/hiw) includes two passes to Maker Faire.

MAKE magazine, called “a central organ of the maker movement” by The Economist, was launched seven years ago. Maker Faire was launched a year later on Earth Day, 2006 in the Bay Area. Since then, the magazine and annual event held in both the Bay Area and New York has helped to foster growth in what’s become known as the maker movement.

Today, gaining momentum on the backs of some core technology and tools, such as the Arduino microcontroller and 3D printers, the maker movement has been chronicled by the mainstream business press and the subject of research by august academic institutions like MIT Media Lab and Stanford.

Hosted by Dougherty and Tim O’Reilly, CEO and founder of O’Reilly Media, the workshop will introduce a number of hardwareJrelated startups and showcase the platforms and new tools and technologies for prototyping and fabrication.

Other featured speakers and presenters include:

  • Kai Backman, co-founder and CEO of TinkerCad
  • Massimo Banzi, co-founder of Arduino
  • Carl Bass, president and CEO of Autodesk
  • Ayah Bdeir, founder and CEO of littleBits
  • Greg Borenstein, author of Making Things See: 3D Vision with Kinect
  • Liam Casey, founder and CEO of PCH International
  • Allan Chochinov, partner and editor-in-chief of Core77
  • Jeremy Conrad and Helen Zelman, co-founders of Lemnos Labs
  • Robert Cook, co-founder of Metaweb
  • John Dimatos, director of applications development, MakerBot Industries
  • Ben Einstein, founder of Bolt Accelerator Program
  • Brad Feld, co-founder of the Foundry Group
  • Andrew Filo, president of Optum Group
  • Ted Hall, founder and president of ShopBot
  • Mark Hatch, founder and CEO of TechShop
  • Andrew “Bunnie” Huang, founder of Chumby
  • Zach Kaplan, CEO of Inventables
  • Tod Kurt, co-founder of ThingM
  • Catarina Mota, co-founder of openMaterials
  • Nick Pinkston, founder of CloudFab
  • Bryce Roberts, managing director, OATV
  • Jay Rogers, CEO and founder of Local Motors
  • Marcus Schappi, president of Ninja Blocks
  • Nathan Seidle, founder and CEO of SparkFun Electronics

For more details about the event and to register for the workshop, visit makezine.com/go/hiw.

About MAKE:

MAKE is the first magazine and media brand devoted entirely to makers and the maker movement and the powerful combination of open source hardware + personal fabrication tools + connected makers, to generate sweeping changes from the classroom to the boardroom. MAKE media properties enable the use of technology to create fun, inspired, and innovative projects, from the wildly popular MAKE website (makezine.com); to Maker Shed, the online store featuring MAKE branded kits (makershed.com); to Maker Faire, the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth (makerfaire.com). MAKE is a division of O’Reilly Media and based in Sebastopol, CA. “The maker movement has brought the pre-1970s world of basement workshops and amateur tinkering into the digital age.” – The New York Times

Media Contact: Bridgette Vanderlaan Bridgette@oreilly.com
727.278.2888 twitter@gidgev

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