October 11, 2019

MEET THE INNOVATION CATALYSTS STUDENT GRANT WINNERS

“The Jacobs Institute Innovation Catalysts, made possible by the Eustace-Kwan Family Foundation, is a grant program that helps Berkeley’s student innovators unlock potential in their projects. This fall, eleven diverse and creative projects were selected by the Jacobs student advisory board and leadership team to be a part of the grant program. During the fall semester, grant winners will work on their projects with the support of funding, mentorship, and other resources at Jacobs Hall and the CITRIS Invention Lab. Read more below about the fall 2019 cohort.

Collective Obscura

Eleni Oikonomaki & Bryan Truitt

Though surveillance technologies have become ubiquitous in modern society and have some benefits, they can also be abused. Oikonomaki and Truitt are using fashion to explore these complex issues, through crafting dynamic garments and accessories that undermine systems of surveillance and identification. Their project began in the New Media course Critical Making, taught by Professor Eric Paulos. For their final course project, they produced a collection of three wearables, each using a different strategy of avoiding facial recognition. The pair plans to use their grant to develop at least one new type of anti-facial recognition wearable and an open source guideline for testing anti-facial recognition technologies.”