alexis 0:00

Hello. Hello everybody and welcome to the Smoko Podcast. My name is Alexis Armstrong, your host. Nice to meet you. The Smoko Podcast is a place to celebrate and highlight women, trans women, and non-binary folk working within STEM and trade occupations. So please tune in, take a break, join us. We are on smoko today. We are extremely lucky to be joined by the lovely Aisha Wilson, who is an electrical engineer and open source hardware maker. Her background is in electrical engineering with a bachelor's of science to prove it, and then a master's of science and electrical engineering as well. And in her master's, she specialized in circuit design, which included analog mixed signal and RF circuits. And then she did a minor in embedded systems. And I don't know what any of those things mean. So I can't wait to learn more about her specialty in circuit design and her specialty in electronic engineering. And we're gonna talk about that. We're also gonna talk about her experience because she moved from India to the United States for her school and now for her career in electronic engineering. So we're gonna talk about that experience. We're gonna talk about her projects, working in clean technology, her experience working in stem, volunteering, and mentorship. We're also gonna talk about rollerskating and her love of roller skating. It's gonna be all encompassing conversation. We're gonna talk about open source hardware, what that means, her experience as a maker, because she's an avid maker of things. So I just can't wait to learn more. I don't know about anything about this space or have a background in it, so I can't wait to talk to you and to learn more. And just thank you so much for coming onto the show. Thank

Ayesha 1:36

you for having me. I love your show and I'm so excited to see all the people you've had so far. Oh, I feel very honored to be in that group. Oh my goodness. That's the

alexis 1:45

biggest compliment I could ever receive. It's an absolute honor to have you on the show and just thank you so much. Means the world to me, so I'm so excited. Yeah, me too.

Ayesha 1:55

Because you said anything about circuits, I think, That you know, 'cause you use them every

alexis 2:00

day. I'm excited to learn like what I use every day because maybe that's it. When someone says circuits and circus de circuit design, I'm also, as a heads up, I am gonna say circus. I have tried to say circuits. All day. And I keep on saying circus design, so that's definitely gonna come out at least like once on this episode. But I think when you think of that, like I just don't really know what to picture And maybe that's where we can start is just how did you discover it? Like how did you know that you were like, okay, electrical engineering, That's what I love to do. I love this thing called circuit design. I think embedded systems are the coolest systems that have ever existed. How did that happen and how did that draw of that specialty lead you Because it led you to the United States and it also led you to a master's and to now this wonderful career in electrical engineering. So how did that happen?

Ayesha 2:53

It was a very long and winded road. So I didn't really have too many role models, growing up who were doing STEM careers. 'cause I grew up in India in a small town. It was like a very conservative family where, most women didn't have threes. But I always was fascinated by physics ever since I learned about it in middle school. I remember they taught us like magnetism and electromagnetism and I thought that was the coolest thing. It was like better than a fairytale. It was like magic happening. It was so cool. So I got really interested in that and. For a little bit like, so Kala, she was the first, Indian woman to go into space and I learned about her and I thought that was so cool. And I wanted to go to space 'cause I was like, why not? Yeah. You're at that age where everyone's asking what you wanna be when you grow up. Astronaut. I was like, I wanna go to space because Yeah. Why not? So I used to say I wanna be an astronaut, but I was like super interested in physics. And then my sister told me that you can talk to astronauts in space using ham radio. It's like an amateur radio, thing, which I thought was so cool. But you have to write an exam For that, which is a lot about like circuits and how like the circuits and electronics work in radios, which I started looking into and it was just like, went over my head 'cause I was still in middle school. But that kind sparked an interest to learn more about that. So that kind of started, my journey towards learning about circuits. It took a lot of years. And serious education to finally get there. But that's how it sparked an

alexis 4:27

interest. Oh my goodness. That's such a beautiful story. And like I feel like that could be like a P B S special, that love of seeing that role model and seeing her and being like, okay, she was the first Indian woman in. Space and like having that appreciation for her to be like, I'm gonna become her. I'm going to space too. And that kind of like convoluted story of your sister then coming in and being another role model and this like beautiful Protagonist in the story too, to be like. You could talk to every other radio, you just have to figure out how the radio works. And that led you to circuit design when you started. Looking at your first radio system, was there a moment that you're like, oh my goodness, this is like what I learned back in middle school. This is the magic and this is basically what first interested me. Or was it still, did it take a little bit of time? Or as soon as you saw your first circuit and your first radio, you were like, yep, that's it. I wanna make that.

Ayesha 5:18

Yeah, no, I'm still so fascinated by magnets and there's so much electromagnetism in general and circuitry. 'cause when there's current, there's a magnetic field around it. Okay. So my brain is still blown away by that, which I still can't get over that. But more I learned about circuits. It took a while to like fully understand it. It's interesting 'cause it's just like a bunch of little components that. Each have a specific role or a, trait that they have, but they also have a weakness in my head. It's like Pokemon. Like a Pokemon,

alexis 5:52

like strength, 10 minus like can't go in water. Okay. That's really cool and nerdy. I love that

Ayesha 5:58

they're all that kind of work together too. So it's like a mission. The LEDs that can glow, but they can't take too much currency, but there is a state to make sure it gets enough current. Then there's a battery. There's just like all these components and learning about them was very

alexis 6:14

fascinating. You're making it sound so fascinating. It almost sounds like a recipe like making like a cake or making bread. It sounds like every kind of thing has, its one little component and it does a certain job, and if you want it to do this as its end goal that you have to add. Another component to add that when we're looking at like kind of circuits. Is there different types? I know your thesis focused on three different types. I think it was like analog RF one was like open circuits. Are those four different use cases or are they complete different components or set of components? Different set of Pokemons. And then, is that the same thing as open source hardware? Is that the same as circuit or is that a complete different beast. If that's like. Magic cards instead of Pokemon cards?

Ayesha 7:03

They're all related. Okay. And I'll love your example of the recipe. That's such a good example. To explain this. So that was amazing. They're related. So like the basic components. At about the same. So analog circuits are just signals in nature. They're not zeros and ones, right? They can be anything. So that's where analog circuits come in, that they don't have to be a zero or a one to read it. So digital circuits that, came into place when, we started doing more computers and computing, on circuits, not just taking raw signals and, Amplifying them or doing anything with raw signal. So this was more for computing. We started making digital circuits. So that's where memories come from, like memory chips and computers. That's the beginning of all

alexis 7:51

that. The brain of a computer kind of comes from. Okay.

Ayesha 7:55

That's to make the computer work better. We, change those analog signals into ones and zeros to make it easier for the computer. That's digital circuits. And RF is basically like high frequency signals. So because we want to communicate things very fast, when computers, we started making circuits to help that. So we can have Bluetooth signals and ethernet like internet. All those signals, they're high speed signals, so like the components have to be changed a little bit. 'cause they respond differently if it's high frequency because they're oscillating so fast. And anytime that's current, yeah, it creates magnetic feel and they just go crazy. So you have to stabilize them a little bit. Okay.

alexis 8:40

And then open source hardware, is that just a bunch of circuits altogether? Is that a type or like use case?

Ayesha 8:47

So open source generally means mostly when people make discoveries or do anything, they're patented. Because they don't want to share, they don't want other people to capitalize on their, findings. So open source is the opposite of that. It's to share more openly. Do not put patterns, do not hide away invention. So it promotes education and collaboration, which mostly companies and like schools, so anyone don't do. So this whole movement of open source stemmed from let's not do that. Let's share things to make things accessible for everyone. I was drawn to it because, it promotes education first of all. There's so much gatekeeping and, engineering. You have to go to school to learn this. A lot of money I have to spend and then getting mentorship, especially for like minority groups, it's so hard. So that becomes another barrier. So I love that people decided to share designs and to teach and to make it more collaborative. So my effort into it is to make hobby projects on my own that's not associated to anyone, and share that so people can learn from

alexis 9:58

that. Oh, okay. that's where the open source is. Thank you so much for defining all of those things and kinda step by step, because I think it's all new terminology and new to us, but you're right, like you said, right off the get go of this interview that you're like, you know what a circuit is because it's in everything that you use and I didn't realize that. I didn't realize how many. Things use circuits and how it's such a integral part of everyday life. I love that idea of moving from maybe a patent or like a controlled engineering for profit of this is what a hardware looks like, or this is what, like this type of circuit does. Now we can make it open for the public. I think that's so beautiful. And I'm sure you resonate with that as well from your background of being like, yeah, I grew up in like a small town where it was traditional, we didn't really have access to this As a young girl, I couldn't imagine all of a sudden just going on the internet and being like, okay, I used so she made this wonderful circuit and now I'm gonna follow her instructions and I'm gonna be able to create this. For free by myself. That's

Ayesha 10:55

amazing. I love, like from the open source community, one thing that I've. Come to see is a lot of women, adult women who never got to learn anything about circuits are finding use cases for it. 'cause especially people who are artists and crafters, they're finding ways to add LEDs into the eye. Jewelry or whatever. I love seeing like that use case for it and for them to still get an option to learn and be a part of, making and engineering.

alexis 11:24

Oh my goodness. I love that they all of a sudden get to have that part of the community and like to see things being used in a different way. And just for like crafty way when we're talking about like open source hardware, if, I know we're gonna talk about it a little bit later as well, but, While we're talking about that, if someone's listing right now and they're like, oh my God, I wanna get into that. I'm a crafty girl. I wanna put some cool LEDs. What would you need as like a bench top ready? Do you need like a raspberry pie system? Do you need soldering capability? What goes into creating hardware?

Ayesha 11:58

This is again, the beauty of. These, iterations of not having access to those things. First thing that comes out of my mind, there's a company called TROs, and I partner with them sometimes on my projects. They make like sticker LEDs and sticker components, so you can just do like paper crafts and stick them. And that's like. Tape that you can stick, to a battery. So you don't need anything. You can just buy their kit and play around with that. So there's that You can do, if you do want to make something. Oh, the sueable stuff too. They make a thread that's conductive so you can stitch LEDs and make all sorts of fun variable electronics. So that's a great way to. Get a alling iron, get components and, start making the old circuits that are a little more traditional. And then if you want to program it, you can, do advo or asberry pi. Okay. So that'll make it a little bit more like you can do blinking sequences so you can take sense data, which is a whole new world to explore.

alexis 13:08

I've played with a raspberry pie once and all of the little sensors and stuff, and it was just So cool. How powerful it was and just how simple it was that it was like It could be explained to kind of anyone without that background to be like, yeah, you just created something that beeps when you like, put your hand beside it Maybe something rudimentary, but it was just the feeling of being like, oh my God, I created, that was really cool. And. I love that this community exists and that this push towards open source exists. I think that's really beautiful. I love it. Yeah. And c you

Ayesha 13:39

now of circuits you already worked with, but

alexis 13:42

you're an expert. Well, I didn't really know what like circuits mean, and maybe if like we haven't, if we've talked about circuits and have mentioned it, but maybe we haven't like, dug in enough. Like how would you define. Circuit, would you basically, is it just something that moves a signal from point A to point B to make an end goal? Is that the main drive of a circuit? If someone, I don't want someone to leave this episode to be like, I still have no idea what a circuit is, but I know you said it a hundred times.

Ayesha 14:12

Yeah. So I guess that technical term for a circuit is just a part for a current. Okay. So as soon as you make a complete path for the current to flow, that makes a circuit. So an open circuit is just imagine there's, battery, a switch, and an l e d. So when the switch is open, there's no path for. The current to be flowing. So that's an open circuit and then you close the switch and there's a part for the current that makes it a closed circuit. So it's just a part, like everything is just current flowing through different components and the different components just do their own

alexis 14:48

magic. I love it. They do their own magic. They have their own electromagnetic. They Yeah. Nerd you out, you get into it. I was, We love it. And I think that's a wonderful definition and thank you because now everyone who's listening will be like, yes, I know what a circuit is. It has been explained. When I was researching you, it was just such a joy and like one thing that stood out that I didn't even think is the idea of electrical engineering in terms of clean technology and robotics and automation, and I was wondering if you could maybe talk about some of these projects that you've been on. One of them that I was reading was your work in. New agriculture and this kind of sustainable movement in agriculture and making these robots that aided for hydroponics. Could you speak to maybe some of your favorite clean tech projects? And then what would be your role and responsibility of that project? What did you do when you worked in that initiative?

Ayesha 15:43

So all my jobs so far have been in clean tech, so yeah. I'm so happy that I found that 'cause climate anxiety would on me otherwise. So I'm happy that I get to do something even, but. Amounts to nothing in the end. It just helps me to move in that direction. Some of the things I've worked on, I made sensors for industrial dishwashers that are in commercial kitchens, so they monitor water consumption and dishwashers, and then power consumption and. It's more data for the, restaurant to know what's going on, but also like it helps when something's broken. It helps them identify what's broken and so they're not consuming too much water just because something's broken. So that was one of my first, jobs and projects, so I really enjoyed that. And then I worked for I O b, I don't know if you've heard of ibi. It's like a power tool company. Yes. So they traditionally made gas power tools. So I joined their effort into electrifying them. So instead of having gas power, it's all battery powered and like more efficient motors. it was really interesting to me 'cause in India we don't really have lawns, so like lawn mowers. And then I came and started working on

alexis 16:53

lawnmower. Such is this.

Ayesha 16:58

Every household in the US at least. Has that. And like to help them move in a direction that's a cleaner, energy. So that was cool. And like some of the skills, that I learned there, I could use it towards robotics 'cause it was motors and batteries and sensors. So that's how I got into the strawberry. Robotics startup. You mentioned that like it's hydroponic, strawberry farms and there's a labor shortage, right now. So it's more to assist, the farmers too. Oh, okay. Just harvest food. So some of the cool things of that is that since it uses machine vision, they do a better job of picking the strawberry at the right time. So it's not wasted necessarily. Oh, wow. I like that a lot. And then we started getting into UV disinfection, which I thought was really cool. 'cause that means like we won't be using pesticides and ve disinfect is better for the soil and like for the environment in general. That was a, like a side, project. I did with that company. That was really

alexis 17:57

neat. So cool. What does that even mean? All of these projects one are so cool and I think that's why it was such a joy. That you've worked in like clean technology and I think I will combat, the only thing that I will combat is that the first, when we first started talking about this answer and you're like, it's not gonna amount to anything. I disagree with that completely. I think this move towards clean technology and yeah, maybe it might be a sensor, it might like help with one component in one system, but it has a big impact to climate, like water waste or food waste. It has a huge impact. Everything kind of builds and those are industries that have a lot of greenhouse gas emission and a lot of energy consumption. So it's really important to have clean technology and be able to use these robotics and automation. I think all of these projects are so cool. What the hell is UV sensing? That sounds so cool.

Ayesha 18:51

So it's UV like ultraviolet. In the spectrum of, like light. We have infrared, then we have all the colors that's the visible spectrum. And then there's the ultraviolet, the, band which is what like we get from the sun, which then damage our skin and all that. They found that a very specific nanometer range of that can, Whoa. So you're just basically dozing the plans for that particular frequency to kill the pests so you, we don't have to do chemical, pesticides.

alexis 19:22

Oh my goodness. How would that work when you were designing these kind of robotic systems and circuits? Would you be in a lab kind of drafting them and prototyping? Did you get to be able to see, to be like, yep, that's my robot. I gave that little robot a brain and he's. Now zapping strawberries with UV light, like how did that work, that progression?

Ayesha 19:42

Yeah, so when I joined that company, it's a startup, so there was one set of robots that they already made. So I was in the part where we were starting a new fleet design. Okay. I designed a lot of their circuit boards and was helping with the architecture of, the robot to make some of the, communication faster and a little more reliable. Part of making that, robot, and then I went into integration, like designing and then helping to integrate and bring up that robot. So Cool. It just came from like a concept to this whole thing. That's awesome. And then we took it out to field trials and made sure it works. So it's funny that you said this is the robot I put a brain on or whatever. We have a fake strawberry grill in the company, and I'd seen it do its job with the fake strawberry so many times, but the first time I saw it actually strawberry in the. A hundred percent. And I

alexis 20:44

expect that it's like putting your child to school, basically. Like the fact that you came in and that like perfect new generation and being able to see it from like building blocks to then like blossom, like I probably would've cried. Yeah, I'm sure. Like

Ayesha 20:58

I, I was, I cried.

alexis 21:01

I would've too, I would've been like so emotional. All of your work going into it and Yeah. That's so cool. Did you know like that was a possibility? Like when you went in school? I guess from an outsider, I didn't even know that this tech existed or that this was like a huge push or this is when we're talking about moving to clean technology, this is what we're talking about. This is like the foundation. I didn't even really know that this part existed at school. Did you? Were you taught that this is your kingdom and you can work in any single industry? Does all industries have this push to automation or are there some industries that are still in the stone ages that you're like, we need to move to, like an electrical engineer needs to get their stat and we need to move to robotics and automation?

Ayesha 21:45

I think there are a lot of industries still that I, that can be updated even if it's not hardware, just like software wise, they can benefit, but there's definitely a lot of scope to bring them to the digital edge. There's so many. Spaces that can still move towards clean tech, if they put the effort towards it. But to answer to your previous question, I didn't know I would get into this in school because I was just exposed to consumer electronics, so I always got that. The only path forward. I was excited to make circuits, but I wasn't particularly excited about like just selling more phones or whatever. So I was really excited when I found this, my first job of like making the sensors for the dishwashers. 'cause on the surface it didn't seem very exciting, but I liked that it was towards something positive and that led, like from one thing, it led to the other.

alexis 22:38

And when we're talking about consumer electronics that you mentioned, is that like creating the components within a system that you would then purchase? Is that kind of that idea?

Ayesha 22:46

So it's just whatever people can sell directly or companies sell directly to people. Okay. For the consumer. Which is like at a large scale and, I guess Rabi is technically consumer electronics. Their division was trying to electrify it, and that's one of the industries that yeah, they could have chosen not to and still made gas powered tools, but the fact that they're doing that is they're moving in the right direction.

alexis 23:11

Yeah. And have that initiative of clean tech. I love that you ended up in clean tech too, because I do think that consumer electronics, there's no shade there, but I feel like it would be a little bit like, Stagnant or it wouldn't be as interesting or as dynamic. It sounds like this kind of space, you could do whatever you want with it and that it's constantly changing and new. Is there something that you're really passionate in this space that you're like, this is my be all, end all project, like I really wanna work on this one system or this one sector. Is there anything that really excites you in the space of clean technology?

Ayesha 23:44

Yeah, I'm just interested in applications. So my current job right now is, electrifying RVs. Oh, the RV trailers. Cool. Because they traditionally have generators and, there's so many problems with that. It's not, the cleanest, fuel. And then, when you're in campsites, where there's, it's quiet and there's wildlife and it's supposed to be, yeah. So this effort helps in taking away that noise pollution and then the air pollution because of the fuel. And then just helps like the electric vehicles in general, to give them more towing power and range, which is really cool. So it's solar panels on the top and battery powered. So a lot of people park their IVs at home, so it gives them the opportunity to even charge other electronics. It's such an interesting problem. And it's. Time. People are trying to attempt to make this. So for me, like the application side is so interesting. To find all these like industries and like things that people do. Like Ivys was another thing that I never thought of. 'cause I've never been in an Ivy before, so I didn't even know that was a problem. This is something that people consume and There's a, path to make this a little more efficient. That's exciting to me.

alexis 25:00

Not only efficient, but clean and better. And sustainable. 'cause that has a big footprint, like you see in Yeah, in camping sites, all of the RVs. It. They're definitely very loud. My next question literally was gonna be like, have you ever been in an rv? And as like homework, did you go spend the night in an RV to be like, oh my goodness, this is what it's like. This is the experience.

Ayesha 25:21

No, I hadn't been in an RV before. So the first time I saw was like the prototype iiv that we built, at the company that I worked for, we're called Light Shift. It's really cool 'cause it looks like a spaceship to me I didn't have a point of reference because it was so like, Very well designed and like very advanced. Like it has LEDs and like nice, interiors. So I think I'll be spoiled. I think I might be sad if I go

alexis 25:47

Yeah, I think so too. I don't think you should actually. Yeah, scratch that. Never go into a real rv. Stay in your like, beautiful Miss Frizzle. It almost sounds like,, back to school, school bus. It just sounds fantastic. And that's lovely that's your first experience of a bougie rv.

Ayesha 26:02

But I don't want to take an RIV trip 'cause I wanna see what people, like, why do people take IV trips and like experience that? I think that'll be interesting to just see the use case of

alexis 26:14

it to be like, what is this fricking, hella, honestly, I kind of love them, but I think I am like biased because I think in Canada, especially where I'm from in, in the west coast, everyone RVs, like all of the photos of my grandfather is just him and his rv and a fish. Like, that's every single photo that's ever been taken of him he just lived in the woods all summer with his, so I have a soft spot for them. I really do like them. I don't like the big monsters. I like the kind of like old school hippie vans that are Okay. Those are my favorite RVs. But please, I think you should go do it. It's a lot of fun. You just go in the woods. I'll make sure I

Ayesha 26:53

go fishing or something for your grandfather.

alexis 26:57

Yeah, please honestly take a photo of you with a dead fish and sitting next to your beautiful rv.

Ayesha 27:05

That's so funny. I'll do it. Okay. Thank you.

alexis 27:07

I'll hold you do it. And this next one, it is gonna be a little bit of a break from dead fish and rv. It's gonna be a little bit different, but I was wondering if we could talk again and bring it back to open source hardware because you're an avid maker. That it comes from this place of kind of bringing that next generation and people who don't have access to this type of technology or this type of education and bringing engineering kinda accessible. Is there anything that you're working on right now that you're like really passionate about or there's like a type of project that you're working on? And then what about open source projects? What brings you the most joy that you're like, yes. Is it having someone like message you to be like, I used that or like seeing photos of it? What's the process there?

Ayesha 27:58

So a couple of things I'm working on that I always have a running list of things I want to make, and the list keeps going, but I don't catch up to it. I like to s so like a lot of jewelry Oh. Inspired circuits that are smaller. So I've been trying to, make, use more sensors. So as an example, like UV sensor, 'cause we need to put sunscreen when the UV indexes were away, I want to make a. Little pendant or something that, basically shows you what the index is. Like just a color or whatever. Just so you know. That's some of the projects I want to work on.

alexis 28:40

That's like the, nerdiest mood ring I have ever heard. It basically is like a wearable you. Be a mood ring. That's so useful though, to be like, oh my goodness, it's like this and I now need to put on more sunscreen. That's so cool that's wearable. Is your main focus on wearables or do you do things, other things as well? Or is it all jewelry and pretty? Is that the main focus or is there other things as well?

Ayesha 29:03

I like making wearables a lot 'cause I like jewelry too. Yeah. But I don't always find like the jewelry I like, so I like making hand, jewelry. Cute. I do, I just still wearables. I like putting things on clothes, like just lighting up, like skirts or whatever. That's another. I like to do, there's so many random problems that I have in life that I can solve if I just, that I make something, so there's a tap in my house that I, it's hard to push it all the way down. So sometimes I leave it on and it starts drip. So I just wanna make something that will like alarm or something, if. Those are like the running list problems that I have that I just wanna make it, but I

alexis 29:47

don't have time. Aw, I love that honey. Do list of customized to your house at Christmas time or like holiday time in your family. Does everybody get like a customized, wearable or customized open source hardware project that they're like, okay, thank you. This is like an alarm clock for me at 2:00 PM for my naps. Or something very specific.

Ayesha 30:10

Not yet, but I honestly it's funny you mentioned that 'cause I was actually thinking of doing that this year. The most I've done is three d print stuff for people. There was one Christmas where all our nieces and nephews got three D printed stuff and they loved it. It was like, We didn't pay anything for that. And they had all these expensive toys, but they didn't care for that. They were like so happy with the, their

alexis 30:32

customized toys. Oh, of course. It's like coming from a loved one. It's coming from like their cool auntie to be like, yeah, I made that. And also what a joy for like young children to have that, but then also to see you as representation to be like, this is what an engineer looks like and this is what she created for you. Have you taught your nieces and nephew this open source stuff? Have you taught them some projects?

Ayesha 30:55

I haven't taught them, but, my niece, my sister's daughter, she's really into, I forget what they're called, Kiwi or something. They send like kits. Like for kids to make like educational things. So I think some of them, they circuits and they're like, make magnetic circuits that you can just snap in place and they do stuff. So she likes those a lot. So she likes LEDs and she like always shows that to me that as she made this like circuit, she's also an engineer, which is

alexis 31:23

cute. It's so cute. I feel like part of you is probably like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. Like go to eight years of school and then we'll talk. But that's so cute. That's so wonderful that she wants to be like you and she's making these l e d circuits. What do you think, like where would you hope open source hardware goes? In a perfect future? Do you think like maybe more people would use it, or would it be more use cases? Would it be cheaper to get all of the components? Where would you hope the future of this industry goes?

Ayesha 31:56

I hope like more. Bigger companies and just companies in general adapt. Like it's just the norm. And they're not patents and all those, things, even though, like in a capitalistic society, I don't know if that'll happen. Yeah. But we can help. We can hope's the hope. I guess that's the hope that they're no like gatekeeping and they know. Walls, for people and everything's just shared more openly. And I definitely think if that happens, there'll be more innovation Like more solutions come out that, like if sticker LDS and sticker circuits for something that no one thought of and it came out of a crafting community need, there's just so many more options out

alexis 32:37

there. Yeah. Completely. That's such a good call out because I do think that innovation happens when you least expect it and when you open doors to maybe people that don't have the same mindset or the same training that they're, they look at a project. A problem in the same way that I would look at it the same way you would look at it. If we all have the same background and sometimes that just shock of the system to be like, why don't you look at it like backwards and upside down? And you're like, what? What? It does push you to innovate and discover. I could see that happening. Yeah, I hope so. I

Ayesha 33:09

hope so too. Hopefully it'll drive more clean tech solutions too, 'cause that's a problem that we need to solve and the more creativity and innovation that happens in that space, it'll be a really cool to see like those two. Communities that I'm part of like come together.

alexis 33:26

I think too, like when we talked at the very beginning about like maybe some communities or some places that don't have access to this technology, and you were talking about like gaming. Circuits to help in your life and to help in your home. How wonderful would it be if the same communities could find like novel solutions that they're dealing with, that maybe other people don't know about or other people don't realize that they need that resource or need that solution, right?

Ayesha 33:53

Yeah, for sure. And like just materials too, which, so much of this is material driven. 'cause all the materials that I use in circuits have different properties. So there might be like, Interesting materials that come out of what different cultures and different places like people use and find new ways of doing things.

alexis 34:16

I just think it's so wonderful, the idea and the kind of like message behind it and what you're capable of doing. And maybe that'll bring us into the next one is like focusing on your volunteer work. Because you've been part of some really cool organizations, which is Nepr, HeartMath tutor. And then the sporty foundation, where it's all been about like science, education, volunteering. I was wondering if you could speak to that experience and what was the most rewarding aspect of volunteering and is there a lesson or learning from volunteering and from that work that's really stuck with you, that you're like, oh my goodness, that's crazy that it's gonna stay with me forever.

Ayesha 34:54

So I started my whole journey into volunteer work. It started in, India when I was doing my undergrad there. So one of my friend and I, we were talking about just being interested in doing a little bit more. 'cause there are schools and rural parts of India, which don't have the same amenities. I grew up in a small town, but we had a lot of amenities compared to them. So we started talking about like how we can help out, and the first thing we did was like to ask all the students if they could donate one book and one pen. Wow. And we collected all of that and so many people. Which was amazing 'cause we thought we'll get like a few, but, we got way more than we thought. And we went and we distributed that, to people and that was really, interesting. My friend like really wanted to grow that organization more and he started doing more work on it and I started helping him a little bit. One of the things we did was like, have people from our college who are interested in different things. Programming or gaming or photography. Oh yeah. Have little workshops for like those kids to show them that these are things that are possible. So I did that and I really enjoyed it. And then I moved here to the US and I found this organization called Heart Math to teaches math to. Middle school and, primary school kids, just to tutor them in math. They're mostly like, title one schools. That was really fun for me. I would go like during middle of the work week, which was really. Interesting to go like from being with adults, talking about like engineering problems and going and teaching like addition and multiplication. For a half an hour with kids.

alexis 36:35

Oh, I couldn't imagine that. Freeze frame almost of a change in pace, like. How was that? Was it funny? Was it like entertaining? Was it insightful? How was that whole process of all of a sudden teaching kids math in the middle of the day?

Ayesha 36:51

It was refreshing, honestly. 'cause it was just a nice change and it was like, kids are so funny. Like they said the most random things, which was like, not what you'd expect, but like sometimes they, 'cause I was teaching math to, it was always fun, like when they figure things out. And the way like hard math had structured, it was more like games that you're playing that were math based. So it was like playful. Kids, like once you, you get, they get to know you, they'll like just overshare everything. Yeah. Which is cool. But the other interesting part for me was like, 'cause a lot of these kids, they're not the most privileged kids. They come from homes that are struggling, but they were so aware of some of the things which was like that. Emotional intelligence was higher than a lot of adults that I was around. Yeah. I remember one of the kids mentioned that he got new shoes but was so aware of how much, how expensive they were For his mom to buy them. Just the fact that he mentioned that was like just sweet and like I appreciated that he valued that. Yeah. So like that, it was a nice experience. Some of the other volunteer work was a little more, engineering based, like teaching kids how to program or like showing electronics, those kind of nature. And that always was interesting 'cause first of all, you, get to see kids who've never been exposed to that career. To show them what it is and to show them that someone like me can be an engineer. Yeah. But it's also like they get so excited, that sometimes like when you do the same thing, like day after day, you forget how exciting it is. So yeah, seeing that is like gives back energy to go and do that. Why?

alexis 38:31

I think that callout of being, it gives you energy and like you forget how exciting it is. I think like you can see it when you teach kids science that you're like, every single time I've interacted with kids in like education and trying to teach 'em kind of basics of geology. I always forget to be like, oh my God, that, or I resonate with one kid. There's usually like one feral kid with like hair like crazy and she's covered in paint. I'd be like, oh, that was me. That was you like a long time ago. Yeah. That's exactly what you were like, and like all of a sudden seeing your younger self almost to be like, okay, that's, that was that discovery or that's why it was so exciting and that completely Boggled your mind the first time you saw Haylight and you realized that. Table saw Uhhuh came from a rock. I remember just being like, almost to the point of like anger that I was just like, what? Like what do you mean? Like I just, it blew my mind. Seeing kids experience that there's something about it that's so uplifting and so beautiful. Do you have a favorite kind of program or a favorite subject to teach? Or is it all, every single experience has been lovely and rewarding in that?

Ayesha 39:40

I like the math, tutoring because math is also taught differently here. So that was interesting for me to learn to do, learn math, how it taught to kids now. So I always had fun during that. Basic math, so it's like not hard for me. I've had some high school programs which have been fun, which is more adv know programming and blinking lights kind of thing. That's always fun 'cause it's more related to my job and just like getting, kids and mostly like girls and non-binary kids to make something for the first time and giving them those tools so they can make more things. That's always fun.

alexis 40:20

I don't know if you feel the same way, but I think there's something about teaching young kids science that I feel like it builds their confidence really quickly. Because I also think that in science and engineering, it's something that's labeled as hard Yeah. And it's labeled as like you have to be a certain level of intellect, or you have to ha be like a math kid, or Really good at this, really early that this comes naturally to you. And that wasn't me as a kid. I don't know about you, but I was not, I wasn't either. I wasn't a math kid, so I always thought that science wasn't accessible to me. So I always think that it's so beautiful to have that education, to see kids that maybe were like me, that are more like artistic or not labeled. As a science math kid, and then seeing them get it and that confidence build.

Ayesha 41:05

I completely agree. I definitely was not that kid either. So we are seeing kids who, for me, especially like a lot of kids who come to these programs are interested in programming. And sometimes they have decided that's what they want to do, but I show them hardware for the first time and they're like, oh, we didn't even know that this was an option. So that's, Or like if someone's like, we didn't even think STEM was interesting, or we are more artsy or we like arts and crafts more, but showing them you can still use that, technology in arts and crafts.

alexis 41:38

Yeah, and look at this like necklace that I designed and like that, this is based in science, but it is still arts and crafty. I just think it's so beautiful and so cool, and I'll tag all of those programs that you're working with so people can read up and maybe join them if they would like to, if they're listening and interested. something that's different than science. It's different than arts. It's, your love of. Roller skating and I wanted to talk about it because all of your content, I love that it's so rollerskating heavy. How did that happen? Like when did you fall in love with rollerskating? Did you move to the United States and you were like, this is what everyone does, this is this boy like that I have to do. How do you think that it's similar to your sciences? Do you think it's completely different? Is it like a total escape? What's the draw there in relation to your kind of like day to day? No,

Ayesha 42:27

I started skating just a year and a half ago. So I moved to Colorado about two years ago and I just wanted to do something outside more. So I got roller skates because I think I saw someone skating once. I was like, that sounds fun. Let me do that. So it was more like a whim. One thing about me is that I have Many interests and hobbies. I pick up things, but nothing usually sticks for too long. It's amazing that this has stuck so long and like I'm so interested in it. It started with just, getting a pair of roller skates and I just, Went around my apartment complex for a while and that kind of got boring because they were just like, so I was like, lemme go to the skate bike, so why not? And then I started going to the skate bike and I think that's where it stuck, because I get bored easily, but there's so many things to do. At the skate bike. So that was interesting. And the science and engineering part of it, for me at least, it comes from, There's a new challenge every time. It's not one thing you learn and you're done with. There's always something new to learn, and you're always like adapting and experimenting. So if you're learning a trick, you have to tweak it to let works. So it's like the scientific method of adjusting what happens. Yeah. Yeah. Like my center of gravity or. How do I move my body to get this? And with the hardware too, there's so many things like your wheels, like there's so many different hardness levels and like the diameter that can affect speed and acceleration and all that. So all those little things, tweaking. That is a lot of fun too. Just land one trick, oh my goodness. Figure out this all over again for something else. And you fall a lot in the process.

alexis 44:16

Oh my goodness. You're a huge nerd. That's so cute. It's so wonderful. You basically just created like your love of physics and engineering with you as the subject. Like you're the circuit to be like, what do I need to create that one blinking like kick, flip or like trick at the end of the tunnel. I need to change this one component. That's so cute. Is there a trick right now that you're really working on that's something that you're like, okay, this is like, I've seen those crazy ones when they drop in and then they do these crazy flips, or is that kind of your end goal? Or where are you at right now for tricks? What are you really honing in on to be like, I need to do this. My next one? Yeah.

Ayesha 44:56

I'm doing a lot of so in a half pipe, I can drop in and like stall on the other end and come back. Oh, cool. But I'm trying to. While I'm coming backwards to jump and land on the other side. Oh my God, that's what I'm working on. I really wanna do that one. That sounds cool. I just wanna do more like halfpipe and I like, skating and balls. It's fun to be parallel to the track. So I've been trying to stay on the walls for long.

alexis 45:26

I love that you brought up that like you get bored or you have a bunch of hobbies. 'cause I'm the same way. There's always something new. But one thing that stuck and maybe it's similar to skating because it's high energy. And different is skiing and mountain biking. For me, those are my two, but there's something about Having a busy brain and having now a science kid brain but having that, and then all of a sudden you're like vertical, or you're like falling. You can't really think about anything else. All of that leaves your brain. You're just focusing on being like, oh, I'm falling. Like I'm in the air. I'm like, I couldn't die unless I do this correctly. Yeah, there's nothing there.

Ayesha 46:03

I don't know if you felt this with skiing, at least for me, it made my mindset and like just my approach in general a lot better. I think I was a little bit more of a perfectionist before now because I fall so much like I do things, I've loosened up a little bit in the rest of my life a little bit. Yeah. I think I'm a little more assertive in some senses that a little bit more confident. 'cause in the skate park it's mostly like skateboarders. And like mostly men. And then, but you have to like, take your turn and you have to commit and go. Because someone will come crash into me if I'm not like, Saying I'm going and I go, yeah,

alexis 46:42

this is my time right now. That's a really good call out. I've never thought of it that way of being like assertive. I always say that I become a punk. 'cause I started skiing a lot during Covid, during the workday. I would leave and have a little split break in my work and I would go ski for a couple hours and I would put on Metallica and I was like all of a sudden taking air on every single like roller, like I just felt like a punk kid. But it did make me like more assertive and more confident in a way. But I did feel like a little punk, like 14 year old that was like, Yeah.

Ayesha 47:19

And then you feel like badass. If even if you go back to work and if you have to deal with something, you're like, I already like fluke caught air and did all this, or whatever comes my way, fine.

alexis 47:30

I can freaking handle that circuit. No big, what's that robot doing? I got it. I'm doing this cool stall trick. That's so beautiful that you fell in love with this. I have one last question and yeah, this might be like the biggest question that I've asked, so please take your time with it because it's right at the end. I don't know the end, but, vote. This huge event in your life when you immigrated from India to the United States to Yeah. Pursue your education and then this career. And I was wondering if you could speak to this experience, because I'm sure there was so many highs. There was a lot of lows. And then if anybody's listening and they're going through the same thing and maybe they're in. One of those low bits or like one of those rough bits, what would be your advice to them if they were going through the same situation?

Ayesha 48:17

I was like belly 20 when I moved, so that helped a lot. Like my best friend delusion was on my side. I handle. I was really excited to move to another country just 'cause there weren't a lot of opportunities for me in India 'cause I wanted to do more practical things and work in like some other companies that I'm working in. I wanted those opportunities for myself, so I was really excited about that I. Did my undergrad and was giving all the exams needed, like the entrance exams to do my master's at the same time. So I was too busy to pause at that moment to think. So the first time it hit me, it was like when I came here, so the first night, like none of my roommates had moved in and I walked in and like my landlord let me in the apartment and no one else was there. I think that would be, I thought that would be furniture, which I didn't anticipate. So he was like, oh no, you don't have anything. So he got me a blanket. I'm like, oh, there was like a pillow. And I slept on the floor that day, which was like funny to think about. But that first night, because no one was there and I was like, something happens. No one will know. So that was a little anxiety inducing and my solution to that was to watch a lot of like true crime stuff.

alexis 49:34

Oh, I love that. Yeah. To help you calm down, to be like criminal minds and like watching violent murders, I do the same thing. there's nothing about it that helps. Yeah.

Ayesha 49:44

Comforting. I'd be like, that's fine, don't they? That's how I tackled that. Don't advise it. But that's how I did it. I guess one thing that I did do was, I went and I found like people do meet, like I'm not an extrovert, but I myself to be an extrovert, to find like a community, which was helpful. And I deliberately made a decision when I was moving here 'cause there are a lot of Indians who move to the US and there was like a community, Not just stick with the people. I know I tried to integrate with like other people 'cause it's always like a new experience and there's, yeah, uncomfortability, but I leaned into the uncomfortability and my roommates at that time were like all over the world and there was a lot of things to figure out and I was okay with that. I guess that would be my advice of people like moving somewhere or trying to do something new. Don't try to force it. Be too comfortable. Don't, 'cause I think like we try to bring some of home with us for comfort reasons, which is totally fine. But also you're here to expand yourself. Be a little more flexible and lean into that.

alexis 50:57

I think it's wonderful advice of just being like, It's hard advice of being like, get comfortable being uncomfortable because That's a scary new thing and you're in this new place, and I couldn't imagine that level of change and that level, that first night of being like, oh my goodness, it's actually real. That shock, I couldn't imagine living through that. Wonderful advice of how to handle the bad days and that you're gonna get through it and there's gonna be a lot of good days. It sounds like if you would redo it, you would do it again, which is the best thing to hope for of making a really big, scary change and scary life decision. Yeah. If you would redo it and live through it again, I feel like that speaks to how many good days there were versus bad days.

Ayesha 51:38

For sure. And I think like a lot of people who move for change and to grow and expand. So yeah, like what? Don't be comfortable because of that. Because you don't want that. You want change.

alexis 51:50

I just wanted to say thank you. It was so nice connecting with you and chatting and learning about circuits, and learning about you and crane technology and all these volunteering aspects and just, it was everything.

Ayesha 52:03

Thank you so much. This was amazing. Thank you.

alexis 52:05

This has been the Smoko podcast. Aisha, it was wonderful talking to you. Thank you again and for people listening. We will see you next Wednesday for another episode of Smoko Podcast. And that is all for now. Tata for now. I still can't believe that. You've never said circuit in or circus instead of circuit. Like I have said it so many times, I can't believe that's never happened to you. Is it not common? Has No one ever said that? I don't think

Ayesha 52:30

Eddie was ever said that

alexis 52:33

when I was, when I was practicing, I was like, obviously she's hurt that before. Like people probably mess up all the time and say circus, but. No,