What Do Amplifiers Do?
The goal of the Blues Amplifiers program is to amplify contributors who are active proponents of Blues in IoT communities. The ideal Amplifier is someone that contributes in some (but not necessarily all) of the following areas:
- Publish content on Blues technologies:
- Technical blog posts, tutorials, videos, and how-tos
- Hackster projects
- Speaking at local meetups or developer events (either virtual or in-person)
- Leading IoT user groups
- Holding virtual or in-person workshops
- Nurture community around the IoT:
- Mentor a junior IoT/embedded developer
- Blog or create other content around community
- Engaging with other users on the Blues Developer Forum
- Participate in social media initiatives, like Twitter Spaces or Instagram Live
- Contribute to different outreach initiatives like YouTube series, speaking engagements, and workshops
What Do Amplifiers Get in Return?
The Blues Amplifiers program thanks Blues’ most influential and creative developers and gives them a platform to showcase their work, reach more people, and shape the future of Blues.
Amplifiers receive exclusive benefits and insider access. Blues Amplifiers have access to:
- Sneak peeks, access, and a chance to test to unreleased products and features
- Presentation, guides, templates and demo resources
- Access to an exclusive Slack workspace
- Office-hours and feedback sessions with Blues employees
- Exclusive Blues Amplifiers badges & swag
- Paid access to maker spaces
- Travel stipend for speaking at an in-person event (approved on case-by-case basis)
- Feature on Blues website and social channels
David Groom
Community Editor at Make:
David bought his first Arduino in 2007 as part of a Roomba hacking project. Since then, he has been obsessed with writing code that you can touch. David fell in love with the original Pebble smartwatch, and even more so with its successor, which allowed him to combine the beloved wearable with his passion for hardware hacking via its smartstrap functionality. Unable to part with his smartwatch sweetheart, David wrote a love letter to the Pebble community, which blossomed into Rebble, the service that keeps Pebbles ticking today, despite the company's demise in 2016. When he's not hacking on wearables, David can probably be found building a companion bot, experimenting with machine learning, growing his ever-increasing collection of dev boards, or hacking on DOS-based palmtops from the 90s. Find David on Twitter.
Naveen Kumar
Researcher
Naveen Kumar is a Bioinformatician with a Computer Science and Information Technology background. He is a maker, tinkerer, embedded electronics hobbyist, and Edge AI enthusiast. Follow Naveen on Hackster.
Chris Shannon
VPCAsia K.K. CTO
Chris served in US Army Special Forces and conducted Counter-Terrorism, Counter-Insurgency as well as Humanitarian operations in a number of countries. He subsequently acquired more than 30 years’ experience in the US and Japan as VP and Senior Systems Engineer in companies like Credit Suisse and Mizuho Securities and co-founding the first HackerSpace in Tokyo.
Salman Faris
Co-Founder MakerGram
Salman has experience in hardware product development, prototyping with various development platforms, is very active in maker communities, and a passionate technology enthusiast. He is a core member of a maker community called MakerGram, where the community goal is to help and mentor people to build their hardware projects and products. Follow Salman on LinkedIn.
Irak Mayer
Lead Software Engineering Manager
Irak Vicarte Mayer got his PhD. from the University of Electro-Communications with a major in Neural Networks. He has worked on designing and programming low-level system drivers for microscopy cameras and is currently working as a cybersecurity and full stack engineer. Maker by heart, with an interest in IoT, edge devices, robotics, image processing, blockchain, and artificial intelligence. Looking for the perfect balance of data streaming, security, identity, and inference. Follow Irak on Hackster and YouTube.
- Mapping the Outdoors with Adafruit. io and a Notecard
- Liquid Electricity (a self-sustainable wireless communication device)
- Solar and Wind-Powered Cellular IoT
Pradeep
VLSI Chip Testing Engineer
Pradeep is from India and is currently working as a VLSI Chip Testing Engineer. He holds a personal interest in open source hardware and loves to write and create projects on the Internet of Things, embedded systems, and machine learning. Follow Pradeep on Twitter.
Justin Lutz
Quality Director
Justin has over 20 years of software engineering and quality assurance experience at a large US defense contractor. Recently retired after 22 years of service in the US Marine Corps and Navy Reserves, Justin enjoys spending his free time and weekends with his 3 awesome kids and amazing wife. When he is not coding hobby projects and working, Justin enjoys running, rowing, biking, and hiking. His interests in the Edge AI/IOT space are predictive maintenance using IMU data and image classification/object detection using computer vision. Fun fact: in his competitive prime, Justin ran a sub-4 minute (downhill) mile! Follow Justin on Hackster.
Prasannaa Kumar D
Project Scientist
Prasannaa is an embedded developer working as a Project Scientist at IIT Delhi. He is working in environmental monitoring which involves developing sensors for particulate matter and gases. As a proactive and passionate individual, he identifies as a Maker, dedicated to mastering expertise in various cutting-edge technologies like embedded systems, sensors and wireless networks. Prasannaa thrives on challenges and possesses an innate curiosity, always tinkering with ideas until they hum! Follow Prasannaa on Hackster and LinkedIn.
Peter Ing
Founder - Ingenuity IoT
Peter Ing is a Mechatronics Engineer and hardware hacker with experience in Automation, Embedded Systems, and AIoT. He runs the TinyML South Africa Chapter, is an Edge Impulse Ambassador, and Expert network member as well as an Arm Embedded Mentor. You can learn more about his startup on Twitter.
- Routing Notecard Data to Edge Impulse Ingestion API (resident expert)
Dishant Shah
Managing Director
Dishant Shah is Director of Blue Phoenix Technologies Pvt. Ltd. which is a medical device manufacturing startup. He has won multiple national and international hackathons and product development competitions, including the Eyes on Edge challenge conducted by the TinyML foundation and hackster.io. He has expertise in developing embedded systems, thermal imaging solutions, manufacturing practices, wireless communication, and AI. He loves to mentor entrepreneurs and hardware enthusiasts by providing them guidance and projects. Follow Dishant on LinkedIn.
Ben Lim
IoT Engineer
Ben is a Mechanical Engineer by training but embedded engineer by interest. His first project was a Drawdio and he never looked back from there. His hobby has brought him to many places and he has met many fantastic people. He loves the idea of a connected world, and is lucky to be given a chance to build it! Follow Ben on his blog at westsideelectronics.com.
Sai Yamanoor
Sai Yamanoor is a DIY enthusiast based in Oakland, CA. He has over ten years of experience as an embedded systems expert, working on hardware and software design for IoT products. He is a co-author of three books on using Raspberry Pi to execute DIY projects, and he has also presented his work at Maker Faires across the country. Sai is also currently working on projects aimed at improving Quality of Life (QoL) for people with chronic health conditions. Follow Sai on LinkedIn.