Tech Explorations Podcast

Jon is an electrical engineer and open-source software developer based in Boston, MA. He has eight years of experience designing electronics and firmware for industrial and consumer products, most recently in the 3D printing industry.

Since around 2011, Jon has been designing electronics and firmware for industrial and consumer products, and most recently in the 3D printing industry.He has been a contributor to the KiCad EDA project since 2016 and a member of the lead developer team since 2018.

He has also created a number of smaller open-source projects related to LED art installations.

In this conversation, we’ll take a look at Jon as a Maker, Engineer, and open source project contributor, how he started, and how he got to where he is today.

Zaf studied Engineering and Computer Science at Oriel College in Oxford and Communication Design at Central Saint Martins in London. He has worked as a programmer for more than 20 years in the United Kingdom and Greece, both for large private companies such as ZDNet/CNET and for top academic institutions such as the National Technical University of Athens.

He currently creates software tools for scientists who work on projects for the European Space Agency.His areas of expertise include cyber-physical hardware and software systems emphasizing robust, modular, secure, and scalable software components, “phygital” experiences, image and video processing, internet applications, and content management systems.

Zaf also has extensive maker experience, participating in Maker Faires in New York, Rome, and Athens. Zaf has used his programming skills on a variety of science and art projects and stage performances, and in 2016, he was included in the European Top 50 Makers list.

In my conversation with Zaf, we discussed his projects and challenges, where he often finds himself in “un-documented” territory. Zaf is known for not being afraid to go where he has never been as a maker. We discussed his experiences as an exhibitor at three maker fairs, prime numbers, and the Turing Machine, and how he created his version of the machine based on Arduino.

We also talked about Arduino-powered video art and much more.In this first part of the conversation, Zaf discusses his background as a programmer and maker. He discusses his approach to programming in multiple languages, his software designs, and some of his projects.This was a conversation by geeks for geeks that I am sure you will enjoy.

This is Tech Explorations Podcast episode 6.

Richard has been teaching full-time for twenty years. He teaches college-level Network Engineering and is creating an “IoT Explorations” course for the coming school year.Richard also taught Secondary Technology Education concurrently for eleven years. In these venues, the topics included coding, operating systems, electronics, multimedia, and networking.

Before his full-time teaching career, Richard was a Cisco Systems Network Academy Area Manager, Apple Computer Systems Engineer, Texas Instruments Technical Instructor, and an IBM Mainframe Systems Field Engineer.

At Apple Computer, he designed and implemented the technology infrastructure for the Apple Market Center, a predecessor to today’s Apple Stores, and co-authored the “Apple ][ Primer”, Apple’s first classroom teacher training manual.Richard holds AAS, BS, and MS degrees in Electronics Technology, Radio and Television Journalism, and Education from Southern Illinois University and Texas A&M University.In my conversation with Richard, we touched on a wide array of topics, drawing mostly from his vast experience.

He worked at Apple Computer for 20 years, at a time when networks were open and unencrypted, and witnessed firsthand Apple’s foray into education. He also wrote the Apple ][ Primer, one of the first programming guides for teachers. This discussion reminded me of my first computer, an Apple //e with 128KBytes of RAM.Richard was one of the first users of Visicalc, one of the first visual spreadsheet programs for Apple ][ and defined much of how modern spreadsheets work.

This knowledge was beneficial when he worked at Texas Instruments and revolutionized job costing.We discussed Richard’s work at the CISCO Academy, where he teaches Network Engineering, and the course he is developing on IoT Fundamentals.

In this course, Richard is designing, and he combines a Raspberry Pi and Arduino to teach IoT concepts by gradually building an IoT application.

We also examined Richard’s adaptation of the Raspberry Pi Full Stack application, which is one of my favorite moments of the conversation.We talked about Radio Shack, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Mr. Wizard, breadboarding, and so much more.I am sure you will enjoy this conversation.

Martin attended a technical school for mechanical engineering in Austria. However, he never worked as an engineer; instead, he became a software developer.Earlier in life, Martin built many remote-controlled cars and planes.

As a software developer, most of his work with electronics involves a lot of coding, which he considers an essential part of “making”.

Martin is relatively new to the world of the Arduino, but he has already produced several fun projects.In our conversation, we explored many of these projects and also considered some very ambitious ideas for future projects.

In one of his projects, Martin used all his skills, electronics, coding, and art, to build Light Gary, a colourful creature with a clock and a head that lights up.In another project, with the help of Dario, a friend and electronics expert, he built a gadget that reminds him to drink his beer. The beer gadget consists of just four parts: a buzzer, an accelerometer, a clock, and a diode.

One of his current projects is Virtual City Windows, a system consisting of large high-definition video walls installed in cities worldwide. These systems enable two-way communications between any two cities, giving people a view into life around the world.Martin is also very much into virtual and augmented reality, and we spent some time looking into this exciting technology, including a headset that Martin is building.

I am sure you will enjoy this conversation.

Alain is the founder of OMZLO, a company that designs, manufactures and sells open-source hardware with a focus on wired IoT.

Alain also works as a product manager and researcher for the Cloud Security Alliance.He previously worked as an IT expert for the French data protection authority (CNIL) and as a smartcard security consultant in the banking industry.

He holds a Ph.D. in applied cryptography but discovered a passion for electronics the day he bought his first Arduino UNO.

In my conversation with Alain Pannetrat, we discuss NoCAN, a platform that uses CAN bus to network dozens of Arduino nodes with a single wire.NoCAN is a technology that is very interesting on its own, and I’ve spent a big bunch of the interview discussing it with Alain.

But apart from the technology, I was very interested in Alain’s experience in setting up a business around NoCAN, and running two Kickstarter campaigns.When it comes to electronics and manufacturing, Alain is totally self-taught.

In this episode, Peter Dalmaris talks with Wayne Stambaugh.

Wayne has been a developer for the KiCad project for over 12 years and the lead project developer for the last 6 years. He is an electronics engineer with over 30 years of experience in electronics design and software development.

Wayne has done a little bit of everything during his career including digital, analog, and embedded design as well as embedded programming in assembly and C and desktop programming in C, C++, and Python.

In this interview, Wayne takes us back in time, to tell the story of KiCad’s early days, trials and tribulations. Of course, we also discussed the future of KiCad. With CERN backing the project, as well as other organizations (like Wit, which now employs Wayne full time to work on KiCad as its leader), and thousands of people contributing donations, I expect KiCad to grow and became perhaps the best open-source PCB tool.

Wayne spoke about his experience at the recent first KiCad conference (KiCon) and the future of KiCad. Tech Explorations was a proud sponsor of KiCon. 🙂

This podcast episode features George Katz, an electronics enthusiast and engineer, discussing his journey in building water rockets.

Katz shares insights into how he and his children transformed a family hobby into a technical project involving custom-built ground launch equipment, rocket payloads, and advanced electronics. Inspired by shows like MythBusters, Katz talks about how this DIY activity fostered creativity, problem-solving, and engineering challenges in STEM education. 

It’s an inspiring story for hobbyists and educators interested in hands-on engineering projects.

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