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About Me

Catarina is a maker of things, a research scholar, and an open source advocate. She co-founded Open Materials (do-it-yourself smart materials), Everywhere Tech (open source technology transfer), and AltLab (Lisbon's hackerspace). She has taught numerous hands-on workshops on hi-tech materials and simple circuitry with the goal of encouraging people with little to no science background to take a proactive interest in science, technology and knowledge-sharing. Previously, she co-chaired the Open Hardware Summit 2012, served on the board of directors of the Open Source Hardware Association, taught as an adjunct faculty member at ITP-NYU, and was a fellow of the National Science and Technology Foundation of Portugal.

Catarina is wrapping up her PhD dissertation on the social impact of open and collaborative practices for the development of physical goods and technologies. She is currently a visiting scholar at ITP-NYU, Research Chair at the Open Source Hardware Association, TED Fellow, and member of NYC Resistor.

Location:
United States, Brooklyn, NY
Current organization:
Everywhere Tech, Open Materials, Open Source Hardware Association, NYC Resistor
Current role:
Co-founder / Research Chair
Gender:
Female
Areas of expertise:
Open Source Hardware, Smart Materials, Collaborate/Co-Create/Cross-edit/Communicate
I am:
Activist, Change Agent, Educator/Teacher, Scientist, Student, Technologist
Languages:
Portuguese, English
My website links:
Everywhere Tech, Open Materials, OSHWA
Universities:
FCSH-UNL, ITP-NYU
TED conferences attended:
TEDGlobal 2012
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TEDCRED 50+ TED Fellow

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Open source, hackerspaces, materials, knowledge-sharing, collaboration.

Comments

  • TEDCred score: +50.50 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

  • +1

    A reply on Talk: Catarina Mota: Play with smart materials

    Mar 22 2013: Yes, as in cloth :) I'd rather not post links to commercial products here, but if you search for "fabric keyboard" it should pop up in the results. It actually uses other types of smart materials: quantum tunneling composite (QTC) and electrotextiles.

    Exactly, the windows you mention are likely made of some type of smart glass. More details about those materials on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_glass

    And an explanation of Thermochromism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermochromism
  • +1

    A reply on Talk: Catarina Mota: Play with smart materials

    Mar 21 2013: Thanks Benjamin. I was referring to textile keyboards that are very flat and light - there was a commercially-available one a few years ago.

    I probably didn't express myself clearly: all the examples mentioned do exist and have been around for years. Windows that become opaque, color-changing wall paint, etc. They're not very common yet, but may become so as the technology gets cheaper and more accessible.
  • +1

    A reply on Talk: Catarina Mota: Play with smart materials

    Mar 20 2013: Conductive paint consists in a mixture of graphite, silver or copper and a simple polymer base - classified as non-toxic and safe enough for children to paint with. The light-diffusing acrylic is just regular acrylic with metal and/or polymer light diffusing particles - unfortunately not easily recyclable like all the other acrylics around us. Electrotextiles are just regular textiles woven or coated with (usually) copper or silver fibers. Most thermochromic pigments available through retail stores are non-toxic. They can be mixed with any binder: water- or oil-based paint, for example.

  • A reply on Talk: Catarina Mota: Play with smart materials

    Mar 20 2013: Thank you :) Here's some information about the light diffusing acrylic: http://openmaterials.org/2012/07/30/materials-101-light-diffusing-acrylic/ Hope it's useful!
  • +2

    A reply on Talk: Catarina Mota: Play with smart materials

    Mar 17 2013: This is a great idea.

    As Piotr mentioned, thermochromic pigments have been around for decades and were used extensively in color-changing t-shirts in the 80s. But few thought to put them to more practical and interesting uses at the time. I believe this was mostly due to the fact that the raw materials weren't widely available, only the finished goods.

    For this specific application, you'll probably want to try thermochromic film which, unlike the dual-phase pigments and fabrics, will give you a gradient of color depending on temperature and in this way acts as a sort of visual thermometer - in fact, I remember seeing it used as a thermometer in the 80s as well. We have some information about these types of materials at http://openmaterials.org/2011/06/06/materials-101-thermochromic, if you want to learn more about them and find suppliers (we're in no way affiliated with these or any other suppliers).

    And to reinforce Piotr's comment: the more of us put these materials to novel and practical uses the more accessible and cheaper they'll become for everyone.

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