The future is in electronics! Many innovations, from the latest mobile phones to fully-electric cars to art installations, rely on electronic circuits and microcontollers to function properly. But how can it be that a tiny piece of silicon in your camera can store thousands of pictures? How do the electrons even know where to go in a circuit? Smart Circuits will be about understanding the magic of electricity, making circuits that react intelligently (or unintelligently if that's how you design it!), and discovering a new way to learn how things work. 

We will be building things with programmable microcontrollers, hacking circuits, creating art with colorful LED lights, learning binary code, using sensors to make circuits interactive, and discovering new uses for the electron. Above all, creativity and newly-gained knowledge of electronics will enable students to create anything they want, such as a toolkit of electronic components, and will encourage understanding of new concepts, such as microcomputer programming and the art and science of electricity. Electronics is a fascinating field: nearly every object in our lives has been made smarter by a microcomputer or other electronic circuit.

No experience is needed to participate in this module - just an interest in learning about electronics!

Trevor is graduating from MIT with a degree in Mechanical Engineering this spring. He says "I am a builder, maker, and project-doer, who enjoys voiding warranties, amending faulty design, and taking pictures. I’ve had experience with high-speed photos, high-speed videos, panoramas, high-dynamic range photos, time-lapse videos, and pinhole cameras.  I’ve been making things all my life, but I started photography when I was about eleven. I started the Extreme Photography module a couple of years ago."

Here is a link to Trevor's website where you can see some of his projects:  www.trevorshp.com

Check out his time-lapse video here:  Timelapse