| Ayah Bdeir | |
|---|---|
| Born | Montreal, Canada |
| Nationality | Lebanese, Canadian |
| Field | interactive art, hardware, electronics, digital art |
| Training | MS Media Arts and Sciences, Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Awards | 2007 Eyebeam Fellowship, 2008 Eyebeam Senior Fellowship, 2009 Eyebeam Senior Fellowship, 2009 Makerfaire Editor's Pick, 2010 Creative Commons Fellowship, 2010 INK Fellowship, 2011 Makerfaire Editor's Pick, 2012 TED Fellowship |
Ayah Bdeir (born 1982 in Montreal, Canada) is an interactive artist and engineer. With an upbringing between Lebanon and Canada, Bdeir uses experimental media and technology to look at deliberate and subconscious representations of Arab identity.[1] She is the creator of littleBits, an open source kit of pre-assembled circuits made easy by tiny magnets [2]
She received her masters degree from the MIT Media Lab and undergraduate degrees in Computer Engineering and Sociology from the American University of Beirut. In 2008, she was awarded a fellowship at Eyebeam Art + Technology Center in New York City and remains an honorary fellow.[3] In 2010, she was awarded a fellowship with Creative Commons for her work including spearheading the first Open Hardware Definition [4] that was adopted by CERN for their Open Hardware License [5] and co-chairing the inaugural Open Hardware Summit. She has taught graduate classes at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) and Parsons The New School for Design.
In 2010, she served as a design mentor on the reality TV show, Stars of Science. In January 2011, in its second season, Stars of Science, initiated by Qatar Foundation, is the first Pan-Arab reality-TV program dedicated to innovation, aiming to shine a spotlight on the next generation of young Arab innovators.[6]
In 2011, Ayah Bdeir received the highly prestigious TED Fellowship [7] which includes an invitation to give a talk at the TED event in Long Beach in 2012.
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littleBits is an open source library of discrete electronic components pre-assembled in tiny circuit boards. littleBits makes prototyping with sophisticated electronics a matter of snapping small magnets together. All logic and circuitry is pre-engineered, so users can play with electronics without knowing electronics. littleBits aims to move electronics from the latter to the earlier part of design process, and from the hands of experts to those of makers and designers.[9] In April 2009, littleBits was exhibited at MakerFaire Bay Area[10] and received wide acclaim from the audience, in addition to winning an Editor's Pick Blue Ribbon Award in 2009 and 2011. In 2011, littleBits was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art for the permanent collection.