Posted: 10 Oct 2012 03:00 AM PDT

Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. For many years, it was regarded as the breadbasket of Africa. But since Zimbabwe gained independence from Britain in 1980, Robert Mugabe has been the leader, and the fate of the country has largely been tied to him and his policies.

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Beat Making Lab assembling development team

Posted: 10 Oct 2012 02:00 AM PDT

Our Beat Making Lab is applying for an Open Art grant, which would allow us to start development on our dream: open source beat making software we are calling PAMOJA, which means oneness or solidarity.

The grant is sponsored by Mozilla and Eyebeam Art & Technology Center and would invest $15,000 towards development of the software. This would help us foster music creation in communities internationally.

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Congratulations to the 2012 Intel PhD Fellowship Winners

Posted: 09 Oct 2012 04:31 PM PDT

PhD Fellowship Program winners announced!

Intel is pleased to contribute nearly $1M to support the best PhD students across the nation engaged in innovative areas of computing research. The Intel PhD Fellowship Program is a highly competitive process where students are first pre-selected by their universities to apply for this fellowship. Each student that is nominated by their respective university submits a comprehensive application which is then reviewed by Intel Fellows and senior technologists. Participating academic research institutions and doctoral student candidates consider this fellowship a very prestigious award. The recipients of this fellowship are all recognized leaders in their field and come very highly recommended by their university and/or industry partners.

The fellowship program was started in the early 90′s by Gordon Moore to recognize and honor top students for their leading edge research in areas that would benefit mankind; it was open to all fields of research. Gordon wanted to give back to those universities and communities who excelled at producing the top students. It was a way to build long lasting relationships with these universities, the professors and help create the next generation of technology leaders. The program has been supported every year for nearly 2 decades. Today's program keeps that focus and also places an emphasis on developing students who are well aware of issues facing the computing industry. Every winning student is assigned a technical mentor at Intel who is also a leader in their field. Students are encouraged to work through their mentor and develop a deep understanding of the technical issues facing our world and to be on the forefront of solving the technical challenges that lie ahead.

This year, 18 fellowships were awarded. All of the winning students were invited to Intel in Oregon for the PhD Fellowship Forum. During this forum, the students met and heard inspiring messages from top technical leaders across the company including Limor Fix, Mario Paniccia, Ian Young, Kelin Kuhn, Brian David Johnson, and many others. They also attended a networking dinner with many of the speakers as well as other Intel Fellows, Executives and Senior Principal Engineers. Intel is very proud to announce the list of this year's winners – Congratulations to all!!!

Intel at the Portland Mini-Maker Faire

Posted: 09 Oct 2012 03:00 PM PDT

On the weekend of September 15-16, OMSI hosted the first ever Portland Mini-Maker Faire. As was the case at the Bay Area Faire, Intel was present as a major sponsor of the event, providing volunteers to help run the Faire and hosting a fun hands-on activity at our Start Making! booth throughout the weekend. On Saturday, Intel Fellow & Director of Interaction & Experience Research Genevieve Bell gave a talk at the Innovation Stage,on "Ducks, Dolls and Divine Robots".

The hands-on activity encouraged beginner Makers of all ages to create simple electronic musical instruments. Using the conductive properties of simple pencil graphite and the metal clip on a clipboard, visitors to the booth could draw and then play their own unique instruments. Makers, young and old, were encouraged to explore the creative possibilities of this simple system, and while they did, they were exposed to some basic concepts about conductivity, simple circuits, input and output, and the importance of grounding!

The handmade instruments were hooked up to a computer via alligator clips and a Makey Makey kit, with one performance area providing drum sounds and the other a set of synth notes. Kids and adults rocked out with their custom instruments. We also provided more advanced materials-conductive paint, copper tape, and aluminum foil-for visitors who wanted to construct bigger, more elaborate instruments. Cardboard guitars proved to be a crowd favorite!

The Intel-hosted activity was a big hit with Maker Faire visitors, from kids through adults. OMSI estimates attendance at around 2500-3000 people each of the two days. Intel invests more than a $100 million a year in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs because a solid math and science foundation coupled with skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, and problem solving are crucial for students' success. Sponsoring events like Portland's first Mini Maker Faire helps encourage the next generation of young Makers and innovators who, Intel believes, are the key to solving our current and future global challenges.

Also present were two booths of "Intel Makers," Intel employees and their families who have personal, Maker projects that they pursue in their spare time. Tanenbaum Fabrications (Karen Tanenbaum of Intel Labs and her husband, Josh) exhibited their Steampunk art and electronic component jewelry, while Kinetic Creatures (Lucas Ainsworth of Intel Labs and his partner, Alyssa Hamel) showed off their crowd-pleasing mechanical cardboard creatures.

Along with O'Reilly Media, Cognizant and Pixar, Intel is a founding sponsor of the non-profit Maker Education Initiative whose mission is to create more opportunities for young people to make, and, by making, build confidence, foster creativity, and spark interest in science, technology, engineering, math, the arts—and in learning as a whole. OMSI is also engaging with the Maker movement, working on plans to turn part of their space into a dedicated Makerspace.