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Matthew Borgatti

I'm a maker / thinker / builder / designer / artist / geek.

908.489.0907 m@sinbox.org

Profile

Matthew Borgatti

Design Wizard
Think Tanks | Greater New York City Area, US

Summary

I am a maker, an artist, and a natural philosopher. I enjoy bridging the gap between art and technology in everyday life, bringing technologies developed previously only in laboratories to the public. I believe that the wider access to information both specialized and otherwise provided by the internet is a key factor in the expansion of human thought and problem-solving, and that this expansion can only improve the ways in which we live and work with one another.

I want to be a part of projects that bring together experts in many fields for solution-finding in wholly other areas--breaking the vacuums of specialized research to create new areas of shared thought.

Interdisciplinary work is a key factor in my explorations, I love bringing theoretical research and raw data into practical contexts, and exploring the boundaries of possibility through concrete exploration. I believe that only through synthesis of the wide range of human knowledge and expertise can the potential of art and science be expressed and expanded. They are enriched through one another.
Specialties: cnc machining, industrial design, mechanical design, cad, solidworks, physical computing, prototyping, human interfaces

Experience

  • 2009 - 2009

    Assistant Designer / Eyebeam

    I worked with fashion designer Diana Eng turning conceptual drawings for fashions using deployable structures, conductive fabric, 3D printed resources, and mathematically derived shapes into working prototypes. These prototypes were shown at New York City Fashion Week.
  • 2008 - 2009

    Designer/Engineer / Instinct Engineering

    Instinct is a small design firm that specializes in taking brand new IP from basic patents and drawings provided by clients and turning them into functional prototypes. I worked with clients to flesh out their concepts and establish the specifications for their designs.
  • Dec 2008 - Jul 2009

    Instructor / TechShop

    TechShop is a combination workshop/learning space. I taught courses in CNC Machining, laser cutting, pattern making, and metal casting. I designed and implemented a curriculum in design and safety suitable for multiple skill levels.
  • 2008 - 2008

    Effects Technician / Beyond Productions

    I worked collaboratively and independently on the set of Prototype This! developing ideas from laboratory research to create a climbing rig that leveraged Van Der Waals force (the method by which geckos stick to walls) to allow a human to climb vertical surfaces like Spider-Man.
  • 2008 - 2008

    Art Editor / Weldon Owen Publishing

    I was brought on the team producing the book Show Me How as an Illustrator expert. Using a variety of visual resources and concepts developed by the graphic design team I created simple, clear, visual instructions for over five hundred tutorials ranging from how to defend yourself from a shark to how to build a tire swing.
  • Sept 2007 - Feb 2008

    Intern / Instructables

    Instructables chose me as an employee because of the popular tutorials I’d published on their site. They brought me on to create new projects specifically addressing the interests of their user base: managing the community within the site, designing promotional materials and collaborating with other makers to generate increased interest and new content.
  • 2007 - 2007

    Mechanical Designer / Tellart

    I worked with tellArt developing some of their concepts for physical designs into real space. These projects included a touch screen interface for a smart elevator, a robotic bar patron designed to chat with drinkers at Pacific Standard, NYC, and prototype designs for a simulation ride made to acclimate the participant with the difficulties of living with ADHD.
  • 2007 - 2007

    Machinist / Creature Effects, Inc.

    I worked under machinists Dwight Roberts and Todd Minobe producing mechanical props and prototypes for Epic Movie, In the Wall, and I Am Legend.
  • 2006 - 2006

    Machinist / ADI

    I worked under Dave Pennikas machining parts for Alien VS Predator II: Requiem. Taking into account my coworkers abilities and methods I developed the interfaces between major component parts of monsters, as well as troubleshooting mechanical and design issues as they arose.
  • 2005 - 2005

    Intern / The CharacterShop

Education

  • 2002 - 2007

    Rhode Island School of Design

Additional information

Websites:
Honors:
Awesome Foundation Grant Award for the Anywhere Organ (Designer, 2010) Editorial Excellence Award from How Magazine for Show Me How (Art Editor, 2008) Publisher’s East award of Editorial Merit for Show Me How (Art Editor, 2008)
Interests:
Hacking, machining, lowtech/hitech, creative reuse, hacktivism, digital music, industrial design, human interfaces, social engineering
Assoc.:
BarCamp, IDSA, TechShop, Noisebridge, NYCResistor, RISD Alumni Association, Eyebeam

Posts

  • March 10, 01:54 AM

    The Anywhere Organ and the Awesome Foundation

    I’ve got wonderful news! My project, the Anywhere Organ has just gotten funding from the Awesome Foundation. For those of you who don’t know the Awesome Foundation is a fabulous collection of folks who choose a new project every month and get it started with $1000 with no strings attached.


  • March 06, 03:11 AM

    Little Spaceman Lamp on Kickstarter

    A little while back I made this cute little lamp. He made the rounds on the internet and I started getting calls. I started hearing from people who wanted one for their very own. In fact, I started hearing from people who own stores saying they wanted him on their shelves. Now, I was floored. I love this little guy but never thought he’d be such a hit. Now, I’m gathering funds to get a real production line off the ground. Please take a look at my kickstarter page to see how you can help.

    Wouldn't you like one on your nightstand?


  • January 13, 10:52 PM

    The Fun Theory contest ends Friday!

    Don’t forget to vote for the Anywhere Organ before it’s too late! http://bit.ly/anywhere-organ


  • December 30, 01:11 PM

    Nominated for a Fun Theory grant!

    The Fun Theory Group was founded to gently change people’s behavior through fun and play. They seek to create a public dialog of interaction with open art installations. I’ve been nominated for a grant to help me create something called the Anywhere Organ.

    I’ve designed a pipe organ that can be installed into any space, a fire escape, an abandoned warehouse, a drawbridge, turning the entire space into an aspect of the larger instrument. Pipe organs have always fascinated me and it will become a tremendous instrument for getting people to play with space and sound. I’ll be collaborating with Brooklyn musicians to record the sound it makes and put on interactive shows with the organ. Still, I need you to vote for the project to make it happen. Take a look here http://bit.ly/6CDc08 and rate the project.

    Thanks for looking. Thanks for reading.

    -M@


  • December 24, 04:14 PM

    3d Brains

    I’ve discovered a few sources for MRI images and the software to turn them into editable 3d meshes. You should check out my process on Thingiverse!


  • November 28, 05:57 PM

    MST3shades


    Of course you want to be part of the world’s greatest experiment. You know, the one where a man is shot into space and forced to watch bad movies. Well you’re most fortunately in luck.

    Download the files from Thingiverse here.


  • November 28, 02:10 AM

    Handcuffs on MAKE!

    I’d like to extend a fond thank you to MAKE for putting out the word on my Functional 3d Printed Handcuff design. Plus if you already caught it here take a look at the new photos.

    See the whole set on Flickr.


  • November 28, 12:57 AM

    Bokode @ Home

    See the full writeup here.

    A few months ago I published some experiments I’d been doing emulating MIT’s Bokode technology at home. For those of you who don’t know Bokode is a method developed in the Camera Culture Group at the Media Lab that tucks huge amounts of readable graphic information into a space as small as a LED. This is done by using tiny printed info just behind a lens and just in front of a strong light. When you point a camera at the lens and pull out of focus the lens projects a blown up image of the microprint on your camera’s film plane.

    You might have noticed the blurry blobs that show up on film when you take a picture of distant lights or pinpoint bright spots that aren’t quite in focus. This effect is called Bokeh, after the Japanese word for blurry. You can find details on how it works here, and details on how MIT used this effect and turned it into a way to create passive, unobtrusive tagging with Bokode here.


  • November 21, 05:00 PM

    Printable Handcuffs

    I love the new set of home fabrication 3d printers that are emerging. RepRap is a pretty fascinating project. Makerbot is amazing, affordable, and the folks who operate the company are the salt of the earth (though they don’t cause crops to wither.)  At the moment the machines are pretty basic. They’re not very well suited to jobs that require strength or precision. However, the quality of their output is improving daily and given how easy they are to modify and how open the projects are people come along regularly, releasing their experiments and improving the designs by leaps and bounds.  I thought I’d create a design that creates a working mechanism using only printed parts from these machines. This pair of handcuffs is downloadable, printable, and functional. If you print a copy of your own please let me know.


    Ferret7 fabricated his own set! Hot!


  • November 19, 01:32 AM

    Music Video – Erlend Oye – Symptom of Disease

    Jake Appelbaum posted some incredibly hispeed film of himself on twitter. I just had to do a cut.

    On YouTube and Vimeo.


Posts