How to Make (almost) Anything
For the first assignment, we were supposed to pitch a final project that involved most or all of the technologies we would learn how to use in the course. This past summer, I visited the Exploratorium in San Francisco, an awesome, innovative science museum, with many interactive exhibits, each illustrating a cool scientific principle.
They have an in-house workshop, where a staff of inventors and tinkerers are constantly developing new exhibits that combine science, design, education, and fun interaction in amazing ways. So, given the chance to work with my own in-house workshop, I decided that my final project would be to design and build a fun exhibit that showcases some of my favorite scientific ideas in a neat, interactive way
Many of the scientific ideas that have most inspired me illustrate principles of mathematics, logic, or the mind: not your standard science fair type ideas. And as a result, its hard to express to novice audiences just how freaking COOL math or computer science can be! So I've decided I will take a step towards fixing that.
One of the things that first drove me to computer science was the realization that logic can simultaneously express incredibly powerful and detailed ideas, but at the same time can be used completely mechanically and stupidly. I think I'd like to build a system that can spark that realization in people that don't read logic books for fun.