Limor "Ladyada" Fried, AC2SNPosted October 8, 2016

Graduate student, Fried posted plans of an open-source MP3 player and other electronic projects on her MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) webpage. The plans became so popular, she started making kits and selling them. In 2005 MIT hacker & engineer, Limor Fried known to her fans as Lady Ada (a nod to Ada Lovelace*, who’s been called the world’s first computer programmer), founded Adafruit Industries.

The company was an organic outgrowth of her own DIY projects online, which, she discovered, found an eager audience. “People loved the tutorials, and there was nothing else like it at the time,” says Fried.

Need to spec a battery? Don’t know how to solder? Want to sew electronics into your pants? Adafruit’s got an online tutorial.

Learning electronics and computer science can be intimidating—there's so much to know and do. 'Ask an Engineer' a weekly show started in 2010 in Fried's living room. The concept was that viewers could ask her any questions about engineering while she was assembling electronics kits and Phillip Torrone, her spouse, was preparing shipments. Using YouTube, company mascot Adabot and Fried herself, teach computer-generated robot engineering basics, “More people in the world can sew and do crafts than electronics,” she told Embedded Computing Design magazine in 2014. Today Adafruit offers two wearable platforms FLORA and GEMMA, and features interesting applications for both in a blog series, #Wearable Wednesday.

The first female engineer to ever grace the cover of Wired magazine; a maverick with an unconventional management style and a bright pink hair coif, Fried has made it her mission to educate others — especially young people and women — about the endless possibilities of DIY electronics.

*Ada Lovelace (10 Dec. 1815 -27 Nov. 1852) English mathematician and writer.

Children's STEM Book Will Feature Young "Ada Lace" Adventure in Amateur Radio

Emily Dawn Calandrelli, KD8PKR, is an engineer from MIT, astronautics expert, former NASA employee and a licensed radio amateur. She is also the host of Xploration Outer Space, a Saturday morning children's television show in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) block of Xploration Station, and a field correspondent on Bill Nye Saves the World.

Emily is a professional speaker and presents on the topics of space exploration, scientific literacy, and equality of the sexes in STEM. Calandrelli is also a contributing writer at TechCrunch where she writes on technology developments in the space industry.

Emily writes about "Take Me to your Leader", a yet to be published book in her "Ada Lace Adventure" series of children's STEM books [no doubt a take-off on the historic Ada Lovelace]: "I'm excited to share the cover of the third book in the Ada Lace series! In the 3rd book, Ada learns all about radio waves and makes unexpected contact." The first two books of the Ada Lace Adventure series are now available for pre-order on Amazon.

ARRL Offering "Radio and Wireless Technology" Patch Program for Girl ScoutsPosted August 25, 2016

The ARRL has begun offering a new Girl Scouts "Radio and Wireless Technology" patch program that offers opportunities for participants to learn about wireless technology, including Amateur Radio. Scout leaders and Amateur Radio volunteers associated with the Greater Atlanta Girl Scout Council and Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains developed the program to incorporate information and exploratory activities that provide a backdrop for understanding radio communication. The program will encourage Girl Scouts to take on activities to gain knowledge and skills, as well as kindle an interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects and careers.

"The initiative for the program came about through my conversations with hams who wanted to work with Girl Scouts as well as Boy Scouts and wanted a patch program that would introduce ham radio, as the 'Radio' merit badge does in the Boy Scouts," said ARRL Education Services Manager Debra Johnson, K1DMJ. "I was introduced to a group of leaders with the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta who wanted to work in developing a new, fun patch program for radio that would fit with the Girl Scout Leadership Experience structure. This group was joined by Jill Galus, KB1SWV, of the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains in New Hampshire. We collaborated on this over the course of several years." Galus's father, "Skip" Youngberg, K1NKR, and a team from the Nashoba Valley Radio Club helped test-drive the new patch program with Girl Scouts in New Hampshire, during "Thinking Day on the Air" this past February.

The program defines the requirements for Girl Scouts to earn the patch at the Brownie, Junior, Cadette, Senior, and Ambassador levels. Girl Scouts can learn the fundamentals of radio communication and wireless technology, from broadcasting to smartphones, and apply what they learn to connect people, enhance safety, and explore related careers. In addition to acquiring the fundamentals, participants can explore radio science through hands-on learning with Amateur Radio, and use radio to talk around the world and for public service. They also can learn about the role of wireless technology in everyday life and in careers. Read more.

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