United States - Flag United States

Please confirm your currency selection:

Bench Talk for Design Engineers

Bench Talk

rss

Bench Talk for Design Engineers | The Official Blog of Mouser Electronics


On Becoming a Maker Dad: Tinkering with a 9-year old & LED Strips
En enero 10, 2015 en STEAM por Nathan Christiansen
Nathan Christiansen

“Dad, what’s a circuit?”

Coming from my nine-year old daughter every question is perilous, but this one was precious because it touches something I love, and even more rare it is a question I can answer. My talking about circuits quickly turned into showing about circuits; in a few minutes we were digging through the electrics bin in the garage for parts. We found some three-color LED strips (leftover from a previous Mouser purchase) and away we ran.

Over the next three nights we drilled holes, took turns soldering, connected switches to a battery holder and tested all our connections with a multi-meter as we went (no cold solder joints in this house, thank you). Our one year old, Walter, rode on my back in one of those child carriers that all young parents are compelled to own, and the older kids passed around safety glasses, asked questions and worked. We crammed the LED strips into an Orangina bottle, and we had a RGB lamp with independent controls for each color:

 

Albert with the lamp before we mounted the globe.

A creative project with your children is a delightful experience, and I was grateful for the time with my kiddos. As the little ones slept all I could think about were the many wonderful people that fostered my own maker habits: daring parents who allowed me to buy a jigsaw at six then turned over a two car garage when I was nine. Elementary and middle school teachers that stayed late to prepare for Odyssey of the Mind; volunteer engineers that gave up their weeknights to help a gang of high school kids build robots, wind tunnels and concrete wings. Industrial Arts professionals that devoted their working lives to passing fabrication skills to youngsters, and college professors who sacrificed so much to help us build racecars and autonomous aircraft. I am filled with admiration for those that love creating enough to teach the next wave of people that will change the world.

The beauty of this experience was that as much as my kids learned practical skills from our lamp, I reaped the joy that all mentors take from teaching. It’s a winning deal, and I hope that all the makers will help the next group learn to flirt with brilliance and capitalize on dumb luck the same way my mentors helped me. The Texas Lottery is right: you can’t win if you don’t play, except this is a rare game where all the players win. Of all the things we create, building the next generation of makers is the most valuable thing we will do.



« Back


Nathan is the Director of Continuous Improvement at Mouser Electronics. Prior to Mouser he managed Operations and Value-Added Services in the Aerospace Electrical Distribution space, and earned an Industrial Engineering degree at the University of Texas at Arlington. He spends his free time riding his mountain bike on the local trails and chasing his kids around (frequently at the same time).


Related Posts

  • In the Mix: My Conversation with Musician and Maker, Sir Mix-a-Lot

    Sir Mix-a-Lot. Whether you’ve heard his name on the radio, on TV or in the news, you can’t help but remember the fun and infectious beats of his classic hits like, “Posse on Broadway” or the often covered hit “Baby Got Back”. But, what many people don’t realize is that Sir Mix-a-Lot is an avid electronics geek (and a great Mouser Electronics customer!) I had the privilege to speak with the man himself about his hobby, his craft and the future of the DIY music industry.

  • New Tech Tuesdays: Enhancing Machine Reliability with QUINT POWER with IO-Link

    Power supplies fueled by Phoenix Contact QUINT POWER with IO-Link enhance manufacturing efficiency, productivity, and reliability by providing detailed diagnostics, simplifying efficient data communication, enabling easy access to machine parameters, and allowing adjustments during operations.

  • Maker Movement Disrupts Electronics Sector

    In its pomp the electronics retailer RadioShack enjoyed years of big profits from nerds looking for components for their next electronics project. (Two of those nerds used the company’s diodes and transistors to build a “blue box”, a device that tricked the phone system into letting them make free long-distance phone calls. Later those same nerds, both named Steve, went on to found Apple.) But then RadioShack changed its identity, lost its core constituency and, after years of struggle, filed for Chapter 11 in 2015.

  • Make Your Own Job with Open Source Hardware: What Students Don’t Know

    When jobs are scarce, open source hardware is opening doors for young engineers to gain experience, offering an alternative to simply waiting in between job searches. In slow economic times, engineers (and non-engineers alike) can go straight toward working for themselves, designing custom electronics systems for low volume applications such as vending machines, environmental data logging, drones for police, or designing custom solutions as consultants.

  • Make it Happen: The Maker Movement

    “They don’t make things like they used to.” But there may still be some hope; today’s maker movement, helped along by open source hardware, may be able to replenish some of the awe that the Industrial Revolution took from us. Not to disrespect mass production, I’m as much a fan of affordable goods as the next person, but it seems sterile now. Products seem manufactured, not thoughtfully designed and crafted.

  • Get Rolling with NXP Infotainment

    The auto industry is in a massive tech-driven transformation, and connected cars are becoming the norm. Fueled by innovations in display, infotainment, and telematics technologies, the two-wheeler industry is following suit, and smart, connected two-wheel vehicles are paving the way.
19586
Tagged With: LEDs, Maker, STEM

Buscar

Categorias

Autores destacados

All Authors

Mostrar más Mostrar más
Ver mensajes por fecha

Archivos