MakerCamp

Jan 2026 - MIT Research At Scale

During the yearly Research At Scale program, Seeed Studio hosted 10 MIT researchers and 20 affiliates in its MakerCamp, to co-create meaningful and open hardware projects in Shenzhen, explore the tech ecosystem frontier, and join maker networks to experiment with the local scaling power.

The research residency started with the Scalable HCI Symposium, a 1-week accelerated introduction of the Shenzhen ecosystem, organized in collaboration with SUSTech and AIRS.

Here is a video overview made in collaboration with SUSTech and AIRS:

The researchers documented their explorations below, click on their names:

MIT cohort:

Ben Weiss

• Keywords: Environmental Sensing, Climate Solutions, Marine Robotics
• Personal website

Char Stiles

• Keywords: Laser cutting, DIY PCB, Wearable for performance
• Personal website

Jake Read

• Keywords: Machine Control, Motor Control, Modular Embedded Systems
• Personal website

Jessica Stringham

• Keywords: Realtime Visuals in Rust, Controllers, Birds
• Personal website

Jonny Cohen

• Keywords: Robotics, HRI, Mobility
• Personal website

Minsol Michelle Kim

• Keywords: Wearable Sensing for Health and Wellness, HCI, Multimodal AI
• Personal website

Miranda Li

• Keywords: Critical HRI, Monster Theory
• Personal website (very out of date)

Sam Chin

• Keywords: Electronics, Interactive Ceramics, Haptics
• Personal website

Shengtao Shen

• Keywords: Architecture, Generative AI Hardware, Context-Aware
• Personal website

Yufeng Zhao

• Keywords: Modular Camera Arrays, Lenticular Printing, 360° OCR
• Personal website

Affiliate cohort reports:

After a decade of MIT-only participation, we experimented with a more open approach, welcoming exceptional participants from other institutions, in academia and industry:

Arbor

• Keywords: Novel Input + Sensing, Light, Media Art, TouchDesigner, Tools for Creative Expression
• Personal website

CJ Pais

• Keywords: Open Source Software, Speech To Text, Maker, Curious
• Personal website

Darcy Neal

• Keywords: Creative PCB Design, Environmental Sensing, EMF Explorer, Kicad Workshops
• Personal website

Ran Zhou (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)

• Keywords: Expressive Robotic Touch, Haptic Design Toolkits, Tangible Interaction
• Personal website

Willa Yang (University of Chicago)

• Keywords: Environmental Augmentation, Mid-Air Touch Display, Tangible Interaction
• Personal website

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The full 2026 cohort:

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