One of the perks of being an adjunct at NYU is access to a professional development fund to support activities like attendance at an academic conference, meeting or other relevant professional development activity. I applied for the maximum of $1,000 to support travel to Maker Faire in San Francisco this May, and just got a letter in the mail today saying that I was awarded the grant! The Maker Faire lines up well with my residency at Eyebeam to finish my book, Making Things Move, and hopefully after I get a taste of what it’s all about I can participate more formally in the Maker Faire in New York in September.

Although I found out on February 11th, the official press release is out – I’ll be joining Eyebeam as one of their winter/spring residents for 2010! I’m so excited I really can’t wait to get started. It feels amazing to be given the chance to work on something I created. My project for the 5 months will be to finish writing my Making Things Move book, and develop the projects, kits, book art, and companion website throughout that time. My goal is to publish as much of the development and project plans as I can to make the material as accessible as possible. Orientation is March 1st, and my work with Atair Aerospace is winding down, so I’m looking forward to spending the majority of my time on book related work! Most of my posts from March 1 through July 31st, the term of the residency, will be book related so will posted on my book’s companion site instead of here.

I’m laughing out loud here at a list originally posted here after I found an excerpt posted on the MAKE blog, so I’m reblogging it. Here are my favorite bullet points:

2. Always quote at least twice the time you think it will actually take to do the job
(personally, I multiply my first time estimate by pi)

7. –Business WILL always be part of engineering. Get over it.
–Never underestimate the stupidity of the end user of your product. Make it fool and idiot proof if possible. This is very hard to do. It takes infinite intelligence to anticipate boundless stupidity.

8. K.I.S.S. The ideal design has zero parts. “An engineer is someone who can build for a dollar what a fool can build for twenty” – Robert A. Hienlein

I found out this past Thursday that I’m one of 11 finalists short listed for the residency program at Eyebeam! Tomorrow I go to a group interview with 3 other applicants to do a recap of my proposal, and answer any questions from the staff and senior fellows. The residency program runs from March 1st through July 31st, and will give me a chance to use Eyebeam’s resources (3D printer, laser cutter, open studio) to help make project kits to complement the book I’m writing: Making Things Move: DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and Artists. They plan to make a decision by the end of next week, and will accept about 5 of the 11 short-listed applicants. I’m honored to have made it this far in the process out of an estimated 200 applicants, and will hopefully have more good news to report at the end of the week!

I took the mechanical engineering PE back in October, and I just found out yesterday that I passed! I can’t even explain what a relief it is. I’m a certified nerd. Now I can’t wait to get my seal! Now I have to start checking out the continuing education units…

I spent the afternoon at the School of Visual Arts sitting in on final project presentations for the Introduction to Physical Computing class. It’s the very first year of the Interaction Design MFA program, and my friend and former student Rob Faludi teaches the course and invited me and some others to give some fresh feedback to the students. I was definitely impressed by the caliber of projects they presented, and I want a pair of touchstones as soon as possible.

Freelancer’s Union sent out an email today with a link to an article From corporate slave to dream job. I can’t believe membership in Freelancer’s Union increased 40% from Oct 2008 to April 2009! And that I was one of them! I was laid off from Honeybee Robotics during downsizing in March 2009, and it really has turned out to be a blessing in disguise, like this article mentions. I never would have left a comfy salary to pursue writing a book or working for startups like I have been doing since I left. I’m enjoying myself more every day and what started as just picking up part time jobs has turned into a career as a consulting engineer, teacher, and author. I’m enjoying the flexibility, and the discipline that comes with working hourly vs. working on salary is a refreshing cause and effect scenario that keeps me on my toes.