Meet Amy: Dublin Maker’s Newest Team Member!

Hi folks,

My name is Amy, and I am one of the coordinators of Dublin Maker Festival and the new kid on the block!

I’ve showcased at Dublin Maker for the past few years as part of JellyLab , and you may know me as the tiny, short-haired woman sitting on top of 200 kg of motorised metal (aka my electric wheelchair, but motorised metal sounds cooler…).

Amy (in the centre) with JellyLab.

JellyLab is the creation of my PhD supervisor and maker enthusiast Mark Pickering, in whose lab I’ve spent the last four years studying the behaviour of comb jellies.

Two comb jellies (aka Sea gooseberries or Pleurobrachia pileus) in a net. They are about 1 cm long.

To study our animals, we needed to build microscopes to record their behaviour.  We then needed to develop ways of describing the behaviour we see in the videos, using computer code. In doing so, I developed a love of 3D printing, coding, electronics and generally tinkering around with things.

Now that my PhD is finished, I’ve started working with Dublin Maker, helping to organise the festival and generally going around to chat with makers and potential makers alike.

I’m really excited to join the team at Dublin Maker. What I appreciate about Dublin Maker and the maker community more broadly is the fact that they create inclusive and friendly spaces that foster a sense of a “can do” attitude. They provide a space to share and celebrate ideas, to approach problems with curiosity rather than fear, and to make solutions through collaboration and creativity.

 So, I’m really looking forward to engaging further with the maker community and finding ways to support and contribute to it. See you soon!

P.S. If you have ideas, suggestions, or just want to reach out and say hi, please drop me an email at amy@dublinmaker.ie