Limor Fried

Last updated

Limor Fried
Limor Fried TC2013.jpg
Limor Fried at TechCrunch Disrupt NY (2013)
Born
Other namesladyada
Alma materMIT (SB, 2003; MEng 2005)
Occupation Electrical engineer
Known for Adafruit Industries
Open source movement
Open-source hardware movement
SpousePhillip Torrone
Website www.ladyada.net

Limor Fried is an American electrical engineer and owner of the electronics hobbyist company Adafruit Industries. She is influential in the open-source hardware community, having participated in the first Open Source Hardware Summit and the drafting of the Open Source Hardware definition, and is known by her moniker ladyada, an homage to Lady Ada Lovelace.

Contents

Career and recognition

Fried studied at MIT, earning a BS in electrical engineering and computer science (EECS) in 2003 and a Master of Engineering in EECS in 2005. For part of the qualification she created a project called Social Defense Mechanisms: Tools for Reclaiming Our Personal Space. Following the concept of critical design she prototyped glasses that darken when a television is in view, and a low-power RF jammer that prevents cell phones from operating in a user's personal space. [2] [3]

Fried was an Eyebeam fellow from 2005–2006. [4] [5]

During 2005, Fried founded what became Adafruit Industries, first in her MIT dorm room, later moving to New York City. [6] The company designs and resells open source electronic kits, components, and tools, mainly for the hobbyist market. [7] In 2010 the company had eight employees and shipped more than $3 million worth of product. [7] The company's mission extends beyond the adult hobbyist audience to pre-school STEM education. [8] Adafruit is a company based on sharing ideas as well as resources; everyone who works for the company is offered the same 401k plan and they get paid time off for volunteer nonprofit work. [9]

In 2009, she was awarded the Pioneer Award by the Electronic Frontier Foundation for her participation in the open source hardware and software community. [10]

In 2011, Fried was awarded the Most Influential Women in Technology award by Fast Company magazine [11] and became the first female engineer featured on the cover of Wired magazine. [12] In that same issue of Wired she said, "Having websites that sell parts online is a really big deal. It used to be that if you wanted to order parts to make something, you had to dig through a catalog, and they probably wouldn't even send you one if you weren't a professional. Now everything is online. You can just Google the parts to make your submarine." [13]

In a 2012 interview with CNET, Fried said, "If there's one thing I'd like to see from this, it would be for some kids to say to themselves 'I could do that' and start the journey to becoming an engineer and entrepreneur." [14] [15] She is also quoted as saying, "There's always something newer and funner and more glossy, but we want to make sure people can actually build stuff, too." [16]

Fried is a member of the IEEE Spectrum editorial advisory board as of 2017. [17]

Awards

Open Kinect Project

In response to the launch of Microsoft's Kinect for the Xbox 360 in 2010, Fried, along with Phillip Torrone, organized a $1,000 challenge to create an open source driver. [7] After Microsoft condemned the challenge as modification to their product, Adafruit increased the prize to $2,000 and then $3,000. [26] [27] [28] [29] This prompted a response from a Microsoft company spokesperson:

Microsoft does not condone the modification of its products ... With Kinect, Microsoft built in numerous hardware and software safeguards designed to reduce the chances of product tampering. Microsoft will continue to make advances in these types of safeguards and work closely with law enforcement and product safety groups to keep Kinect tamper-resistant. [30]

After significant advancements in the open source drivers, spokespeople from Microsoft stated that they did not condemn the challenge, and in fact were excited to see what the community developed. [31]

Personal life

Fried is married to Hackaday founder, former Make editor, and former Engadget podcast host Phillip Torrone. In 2022 they had a baby. [32]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hacker</span> Person skilled in information technology

A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who achieves goals by non-standard means. The term has become associated in popular culture with a security hacker – someone with knowledge of bugs or exploits to break into computer systems and access data which would otherwise be inaccessible to them. In a positive connotation, though, hacking can also be utilized by legitimate figures in legal situations. For example, law enforcement agencies sometimes use hacking techniques to collect evidence on criminals and other malicious actors. This could include using anonymity tools to mask their identities online and pose as criminals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homebrew Computer Club</span> Computer hobbyist users group in California

The Homebrew Computer Club was an early computer hobbyist group in Menlo Park, California, which met from March 1975 to December 1986. The club had an influential role in the development of the microcomputer revolution and the rise of that aspect of the Silicon Valley information technology industrial complex.

<i>Revolution OS</i> 2001 documentary film

Revolution OS is a 2001 documentary film that traces the twenty-year history of GNU, Linux, open source, and the free software movement.

<i>Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution</i> 1984 non-fiction book by Steven Levy

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution (ISBN 0-385-19195-2) is a book by Steven Levy about hacker culture. It was published in 1984 in Garden City, New York by Doubleday. Levy describes the people, the machines, and the events that defined the Hacker culture and the Hacker Ethic, from the early mainframe hackers at MIT, to the self-made hardware hackers and game hackers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TV-B-Gone</span> Universal remote control device

TV-B-Gone is a universal remote control device for turning off various brands of television sets. Released in 2004, its inventor referred to it as "an environmental management device". Although it can require up to 72 seconds for the device to find the proper code for a particular television receiver, the most popular televisions turn off in the first few seconds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arduino</span> Italian open-source hardware and software company

Arduino is an Italian open-source hardware and software company, project, and user community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices. Its hardware products are licensed under a CC BY-SA license, while the software is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) or the GNU General Public License (GPL), permitting the manufacture of Arduino boards and software distribution by anyone. Arduino boards are available commercially from the official website or through authorized distributors.

iRobot Create Hobbyist robot based on the Roomba vacuum cleaner

iRobot Create is a hobbyist robot manufactured by iRobot that was introduced in 2007 and based on their Roomba vacuum cleaning platform. The iRobot Create is explicitly designed for robotics development and improves the experience beyond simply hacking the Roomba. The Create replaces its Roomba predecessor's vacuum cleaner hardware with a cargo bay that also houses a DB-9 port providing serial communication, digital input & output, analog input & output, and an electric power supply. The Create also has a 7-pin Mini-DIN serial port through which sensor data can be read and motor commands can be issued using the iRobot Roomba Open Interface (ROI) protocol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Huang (hacker)</span> American researcher and hacker (born 1975)

Andrew "bunnie" Huang is an American researcher and hacker, who holds a Ph.D in electrical engineering from MIT and is the author of the freely available 2003 book Hacking the Xbox: An Introduction to Reverse Engineering. As of 2012 he resides in Singapore. Huang is a member of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity, and a resident advisor and mentor to hardware startups at HAX, an early stage hardware accelerator and venture capital firm.

Johnny Chung Lee is an American computer engineer known for his inventions related to the Wii Remote. He is involved with human-computer interaction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinect</span> Motion-sensing input device for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One

Kinect is a discontinued line of motion sensing input devices produced by Microsoft and first released in 2010. The devices generally contain RGB cameras, and infrared projectors and detectors that map depth through either structured light or time of flight calculations, which can in turn be used to perform real-time gesture recognition and body skeletal detection, among other capabilities. They also contain microphones that can be used for speech recognition and voice control.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PrimeSense</span> Former Israeli company

PrimeSense was an Israeli 3D sensing company based in Tel Aviv. PrimeSense had offices in Israel, North America, Japan, Singapore, Korea, China and Taiwan. PrimeSense was bought by Apple Inc. for $360 million on November 24, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hacking of consumer electronics</span>

The hacking of consumer electronics is a common practice that users perform to customize and modify their devices beyond what is typically possible. This activity has a long history, dating from the days of early computer, programming, and electronics hobbyists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayah Bdeir</span> Lebanese-Canadian entrepreneur, inventor, and interactive artist

Ayah Bdeir is a Canadian entrepreneur, inventor, and interactive artist of Syrian descent. She is the founder and CEO of littleBits. She is also the co-founder of Daleel Thawra, a directory of protests, initiatives, donations in Lebanon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adafruit Industries</span> American electronic components and hardware distributor

Adafruit Industries is an open-source hardware company based in New York, United States. It was founded by Limor Fried in 2005. The company designs, manufactures and sells electronics products, electronics components, tools, and accessories. It also produces learning resources, including live and recorded videos about electronics, technology, and programming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whurley</span> American tech entrepreneur

William Hurley, commonly known as whurley, is an American tech entrepreneur and investor who founded Chaotic Moon Studios, Honest Dollar, Strangeworks, Ecliptic Capital, and philanthropic efforts including CERN's Entrepreneurship Student Programme and Equals: The Global Partnership for Gender Equality in the Digital Age. He is an open source advocate and systems theorist, and is regularly interviewed by the press on technology and related topics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xbox One</span> Video game console developed by Microsoft

The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Australia, and South America in November 2013 and in Japan, China, and other European countries in September 2014. It is the first Xbox game console to be released in China, specifically in the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone. Microsoft marketed the device as an "all-in-one entertainment system", hence the name "Xbox One". An eighth-generation console, it mainly competed against Sony's PlayStation 4 and Nintendo's Wii U and later the Switch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katie Moussouris</span> American computer security researcher, entrepreneur, and pioneer in vulnerability disclosure

Katie Moussouris is an American computer security researcher, entrepreneur, and pioneer in vulnerability disclosure, and is best known for her ongoing work advocating responsible security research. Previously a member of @stake, she created the bug bounty program at Microsoft and was directly involved in creating the U.S. Department of Defense's first bug bounty program for hackers. She previously served as Chief Policy Officer at HackerOne, a vulnerability disclosure company based in San Francisco, California, and currently is the founder and CEO of Luta Security.

Carol Elizabeth Reiley is an American business executive, computer scientist, and model. She is a pioneer in teleoperated and autonomous robot systems in surgery, space exploration, disaster rescue, and self-driving cars. Reiley has worked at Intuitive Surgical, Lockheed Martin, and General Electric. She co-founded, invested in, and was president of Drive.ai, and is now CEO of a healthcare startup, a creative advisor for the San Francisco Symphony, and a brand ambassador for Guerlain Cosmetics. She is a published children's book author, the first female engineer on the cover of MAKE magazine, and is ranked by Forbes, Inc, and Quartz as a leading entrepreneur and influential scientist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Kipman</span> Brazilian engineer (born 1979)

Alex Kipman is a Brazilian engineer and inventor who is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Analog AI. Previously, he was the lead developer of the Microsoft HoloLens smartglasses and helped develop the Xbox Kinect.

Hector Martin Cantero, also known as marcan, is a Spanish security hacker known for hacking multiple PlayStation generations, the Wii and other devices. Martin is lead developer on the Asahi Linux project.

References

  1. "Limor Fried, Founder & CEO, Adafruit Industries | MAKERS". YouTube .
  2. "Research". ladyada.net. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  3. Fried, Limor (2005). Social defense mechanisms : tools for reclaiming our personal space (M. Eng. thesis). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. hdl:1721.1/33151.
  4. "Eyebeam Limor Fried". Eyebeam. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  5. "An interview with Limor Fried | The Blueprint". The Blueprint. Archived from the original on February 23, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  6. Monica Rozenfeld (September 9, 2015). "How DIY Electronics Startup Adafruit Industries Became a Multimillion-Dollar Company". IEEE – The Institute. Archived from the original on September 18, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015. ...started the venture in her dorm room at MIT...
  7. 1 2 3 Tozzi, John (December 6, 2010). "Adafruit Targets Tinkerers With 'Open-Source' Electronics Kits". Bloomberg. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  8. Kumagai, Jean (April 22, 2013). "Profile: Limor Fried". IEEE – Spectrum. Retrieved September 28, 2015. Lately she and her team are out to prove that even the preschool set can appreciate the beauty of the electron.
  9. Fried, Limor (June 13, 2017). "Running an alt.business: being a good cause and doing good business". XRDS: Crossroads, the ACM Magazine for Students. 23 (4): 32–35. doi:10.1145/3094549. ISSN   1528-4972. S2CID   33653003.
  10. "Hardware Hacker, E-Voting Investigator, and Public Domain Advocate Win Pioneer Awards". Electronic Frontier Foundation. October 6, 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  11. Zax, David. "Limor Fried". 2011 Most Influential Women in Technology. Fast Company. Archived from the original on January 28, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  12. "Wired Issue 19.04". Wired. March 29, 2011.
  13. "8. Biotechnology's Open Source Revolution", Biobazaar, Harvard University Press, pp. 292–334, December 31, 2008, doi:10.4159/9780674033603-009, ISBN   978-0-674-03360-3 , retrieved September 23, 2020
  14. Blue, Violet (December 17, 2012). "Magazine names hacker Limor Fried 'Entrepreneur of the Year'". CNET. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  15. Matheson, Rob (May 30, 2013). "Meet the maker: MIT alumna Limor Fried has become a pioneer of the 'maker movement' with her multimillion-dollar company". MIT News. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  16. Herrera-Charles, Roberto; Alvarez-Sanchez, Teodoro; Alvarez-Cedillo, Jesus A. (2020). "Synthesis of video processing with open-source hardware descriptor languages". In Tescher, Andrew G; Ebrahimi, Touradj (eds.). Applications of Digital Image Processing XLIII. Vol. 11510. pp. 115101W. Bibcode:2020SPIE11510E..1WH. doi:10.1117/12.2568949. ISBN   9781510638266. S2CID   222110327.
  17. Cass, Stephen (September 27, 2017). "Build an Illuminated Halloween Costume With the Wearable Gemma M0 Microcontroller". IEEE Spectrum. IEEE . Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  18. "2009 Pioneer Awards". Electronic Frontier Foundation. October 22, 2009.
  19. "The Most Influential Women in Technology 2011 – Limor Fried". Fast Company. January 10, 2011.
  20. Entrepreneur (magazine)
  21. "Champions of Change". whitehouse.gov.
  22. "Limor Fried". Forbes .
  23. "2019 STEP Ahead Honoree". The Manufacturing Institute. April 2019. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  24. "Announcing the winners of the 2019 Women in Open Source Awards". Red Hat. May 6, 2019.
  25. "Celebrating the GitHub Awards 2023 recipients". GitHub. November 9, 2023.
  26. "The Open Kinect project – THE OK PRIZE – get $3,000 bounty for Kinect for Xbox 360 open source drivers". Adafruit. November 4, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  27. "Kinect Hack Makes Microsoft Angry, Deny its Existence". PCWorld. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  28. "Bounty offered for open-source Kinect driver". cnet.com. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  29. Brown, Mark. "$2,000 Bounty Put on Open-Source Kinect Drivers". Wired. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  30. Terdiman, Daniel (November 4, 2010). "Bounty offered for open-source Kinect driver". CNET. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  31. Flatow, Ira (November 19, 2010). "How The X-Box Kinect Tracks Your Moves". National Public Radio. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  32. "Ask an Engineer 11/9/2022 Live!". YouTube .