One of my favorite parts about attending Maker Faire is talking to passionate makers about their work, and this year we have some amazing exhibitors showing off projects never before seen at the event. Here’s a taste of a few of our favorite first-timers, and a bit about what drives them.
Miki Masuhara-Page: The Cosmic Messenger
The Cosmic Messenger (aka Ms. Peggy) is a nine-foot tall mermaid-tail-sporting Pegasus unicorn made by Miki Masuhara-Page to “spark joy and creativity.”
What was your inspiration?
I grew up in an isolated valley on the Big Island of Hawaii, where wild ponies roamed. My love for horses and magical legends inspired me to dream up Peggy. Without running water or electricity, my dad read me stories of heroes and mythical beasts by kerosene lamp. I worked at a horse stable and tamed a wild pony named Lio.
Living in such an inspiring place, I was taught in a hands-on manner, which fueled my passion for interactive art. I’ve always loved magical things, believing there is more out there than meets the eye. Peggy is a tribute to Lio and the enchanting legends that shaped my youth, inviting others to share the wonder and magic that filled my early years.
What should attendees expect from your piece?
Ms. Peggy is covered in chalkboard paint so participants can doodle, scribble, and leave their mark. By day, she stands proud and mysterious; by night, she transforms into a glowing beacon of creativity, with lights that highlight not only her shimmering glass but also the gradually accumulating chalk masterpieces.
Raghav Kheterpal: Friendly Neighborhood Lego City
Raghav Kheterpal is a young maker who built an intricate Lego city that looks good enough to be a Lego movie set. We asked him about the process and what it took to put together a metropolis with five restaurants and a public transit system that rivals the one I grew up with.
What’s your favorite thing about the Lego City?
My favorite thing about the Lego city is the tiny details that I have added inside and outside of the buildings–those really make the city come to life!
What was the hardest building to put together?
I liked building the parts in which I used my own creativity, instead of using sets or instructions. Some examples of these buildings are the Mall building, the Airport, and the School.
What are you most excited to see at Maker Faire?
I am excited to see other architectural creations that have been made by people with similar passions as me.
Verilog Meetup: Chip Design Workshop
How do they design microchips so advanced it looks like alien technology? For years the answer has been Verilog. The Verilog Meetup group demystifies digital chip design, and at Maker Faire you’ll have the chance to try designs out on some FPGAs.
What was the inspiration for the group?
The professional engineers who started Verilog Meetup noticed and decided to solve three challenges in hardware design education:
- Barrier to entry to the field. By making design techniques accessible, we enable people to create new mixes of hardware and software for AI, space electronics, and other things that have not yet been invented.
- The gap between Academia and Industry. Many students coming to job interviews are not trained to solve microarchitectural problems common in modern CPU, GPU, networking, and AI. We are trying to collect the best open industrial practices and convert them into educational materials to make beginning engineers more productive faster.
- EDA and FPGA vendor lock. The examples we develop support more than 30 boards with FPGAs from Xilinx, Altera, Gowin, and Lattice and aim to be compatible with open-source ASIC design tools.
What should attendees expect at your booth?
The attendees will have an opportunity to generate static and dynamic graphics on the color LCD display by modifying code in Verilog hardware description language.
They will synthesize the code into a bitstream and upload it into the FPGA chip configuration on the boards we provide. FPGA is an acronym for Field-Programmable Gate Array, a chip without a processor but with a matrix of cells with changeable logic functions.
By doing this the attendees will get an idea about the work of a digital chip designer who uses Verilog to design hardware for smartphones, AI accelerators and other electronic devices.
Dorian Todd: Full Contact Engineering
Dorian Todd is a mechanical engineering student who builds wild, exciting, and sometimes dangerous devices. He’ll be demoing his incredible sound-reactive light-up guitar, combat robot, mesmerizing LED display, and an interactive hexapod robot.
You’re bringing so much stuff, which is most exciting to you?
For me, the most exciting project I’m bringing to Maker Faire is my latest creation, a Hexapod Robot named RED.hex. This robot is one of the most advanced I’ve ever worked on, and it’s thrilling to see it come together into something amazing. I’m also really proud of the newest custom-built electric guitar—a Flying-V style crafted from mahogany and aluminum. What makes this experience even more exciting is being able to share these projects with the world. That’s why I’m bringing so much—each project is exciting in it’s own unique way, and sharing them makes it even better.
What inspires you?
Inspiration comes from various sources: online creators, fascinating real-world encounters, and personal experiences. However, the driving force behind bringing these projects to life and sharing them with the world is the maker community itself.
My journey with Maker Faire began early. Attending the Bay Area events annually with my family became a pivotal part of my formative years. As time passed, I developed new skills and interests, gradually tackling more ambitious projects. I continued to frequent Maker Faire and similar events, which eventually sparked the desire to create my own booth. The positive experience I had exhibiting at OpenSauce 2024 further fueled my enthusiasm.
What’s your favorite reaction you’ve gotten to one of your projects?
One of the best reactions I’ve received was from The Backyard Scientist at OpenSauce 2024. After checking out my projects, he thought they were awesome and even gave me a “Backyard Scientist Approved” patch! It was such a cool moment. But what I enjoy most is when people sit down and play the guitars I’ve built—especially when they surprise me with a cool or fast-paced song. It’s always exciting to see my work in action.
What should attendees expect at your booth?
Guests of Maker Faire can play music on the sound-reactive LED guitar, inspect and hold battle-hardened components of a combat robot, and create visualizations on a digital LED matrix display. These activities are friendly to all ages, and all experience levels, and have been proven to be engaging and fun at previous events.
James Steinberg: Drop of a Hat Zone
James Steinberg is a prolific doer and fail-at-er of things. He’s tracking how many things on dare.fail in real-time. Recently he’s taken his interest in “hats and cats” to an absurd extreme with Drop of a Hat Zone, a project that “AI to automatically drop hats onto your head. At a moment’s notice. At the drop of a hat.”
What inspires you?
Picture a world where you can walk around New York City and everything you need is falling out of windows onto you. At a moment’s notice, at the drop of a hat. That’s a world I want to live in.
Attendees will be able to use a live webcam to play a piano and draw on a virtual whiteboard. Watching your head for unexpected hattings is suggested.
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