About Me

Hi! I'm Aditi, and I'm taking Neil Gershenfeld's "How to Make Almost Anything" class at MIT Media Lab. My background is in strategy consulting for social impact (across education, gender, economic mobility, financial inclusion, and digital inclusion). This means I've worked with nonprofits, corporates, governments, the UN - you name it - on everything from how to expand operations to a new state, to how to begin to design more inclusive digital remittance products in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. This apart, I dabble in poetry, writing, theater, strategy consulting]. I've spent most of my career fabricating in the realm of ideas - crafting narratives, stories, and solutions in social impact work around girls' education, digital financial inclusion, and preventative healthcare.

This class represents my leap from theoretical to physical fabrication. I'm excited to learn how to bring my ideas to life in the real world, whether that's creating companion devices for my 86-year-old grandmother or building that soundproof practice space I've always wanted for music.

Follow along as I document my journey from someone who thinks in metaphors to someone who can work with motors and microcontrollers!

Student Agreement

MAS.863/4.140/6.9020 Student Agreement

I am a fab class student, responsible for:

  • Attending class lectures and participating in reviews
  • Developing and documenting assignments, with enough information to be able to reproduce your work
  • Honestly reporting on my work, and appropriately attributing the work of others (both human and AI)
  • Allowing my work to be shared by the class (with attribution)
  • Working safely
  • Following applicable health and safety guidance, including waste disposal
  • Leaving workspaces in the same (or better) condition than I found them
  • Participating in the upkeep of my lab
  • Recognizing limits on lab and staff time
  • Promoting a respectful environment free of harassment and discrimination, and encouraging community participation

Signed by committing this file in my repository,

Aditi Ramakrishnan

Weekly Documentation

Follow my progress as I learn to make (almost) anything. Use the navigation menu above to explore individual weeks.

Course Progress

This course runs from September through December 2024. Each week focuses on a different aspect of digital fabrication, from computer-aided design and electronics to 3D printing and embedded programming. I'm documenting my journey from someone who works primarily with ideas to someone who can create physical objects.

Check the weekly documentation via the navigation menu to see detailed breakdowns of projects, challenges, successes, and lessons learned each week.

Final Project

Project Ideas in Development

I'm exploring several ideas for my final project, ranging from adaptive clothing that transforms for different occasions, to interactive devices for elderly companionship, to sensory learning tools for neurodivergent children. Follow my weekly documentation to see how these ideas evolve!

This section will be updated as my project takes shape throughout the semester.