Saurabh Mhatre

Info

smhatre@gsd.harvard.edu
http://sm8928.wix.com/designportfolio
Harvard Graduate School Of Design (GSD)/ 2nd Yr_Masters in Design : Technology

Expertise

★★★  Fabrication & Craft
★★★  Design
  Electronics
★★  Programming
  Biology
  Chemistry
★★  Photography

What’s your favorite thing you’ve made?

The favorite thing I have made is a pixelated screen using smartglass pixels .

Based on electric current you can change the  opacity  of the smartglass  .

Using it with Arduino you can control the opacity of each pixel through code. When  used along with a projector, it creates experiential depth. It was made  in context to a course at the GSD, Responsive Environments .

This screen is a proof of context to a pavilion situated in Guangzhou(China), whose boundaries  change with the opacity of the form.

(Link: http://vimeo.com/105706979).

What’s the most frustrating object you’ve used?

After switching to MAC , Windows OS feels like the most frustrating object i’ve used.

What do you personally hope to get out of this class?

I believe that this class can teach me a lot about technology, interfaces (active, reactive, interactive) and  the role of the Human element amongst them. I believe in mutual learning. Being an Architect, Designer and a Photographer i feel that i can be a valuable asset to this class.

A  British writer Arthur C. Clarke said , “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” This quote has been an inspiration for me and it has reminded me of a lot of projects from the MIT Media Lab.

I did a J-Term Toy Design Course(http://diytoydesign.wordpress.com/) at the GSD under Dimitris Papanikolaou and got a chance to meet Arthur Petron,David Mellis, Peter Schmitt who are all inventors in the Media Lab. The jury we had, gave me a glimpse of the work culture at the Media Lab and inspires me to become a part of it .

How can you contribute to the  class?

Being at Harvard GSD in the MDesS:Technology program i got exposed to a lot of designing and fabrication tools and softwares. I was a Teaching Assistant at my undergraduate school and am aware of the benefits of mutual learning.I have a Science background and have self- taught myself a lot about Arduino, ,Grasshopper,Firefly and other input/output interfaces.I will try  my best and contribute to this mutual learning environment.