IEEE Women in Engineering Student Affinity Group at The University of Melbourne
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Energised Fashion Runway
The National Science Week and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Women-in-Engineering (WIE) Affinity Group Victorian Section brings you the Energised Fashion Runway featuring wearable technology and e-textile. The event will be held on 22ndAugust 2015 at the Story Hall Auditorium, RMIT, Melbourne from 2pm to 5pm.
There is now an exciting opportunity to participate in the first Australian Wearable Technology and e-Textile Challenge. Finalist designs will be showcased at the National Science Week Energised Fashion Runway and Hands-on Lab. We are looking for Wearable Technology and e-Textile designs in a number of domains including fashion, communications, entertainment, medical and healthcare and occupational health and safety.
The designs will be judged by the organising committee and industry experts. A total prize money of $500 and certificates will be presented to the top three designs. There will be media coverage at the event.
For more details, please visit: http://www.ieeevic.org/event/energised-fashion-runway/
The competition is free to enter. In the first stage you are required to register your interest here (Note: no previous experience is required at this stage): https://registration-of-interest.eventbrite.com.au
In the second stage, you will be asked to register your design prototype: http://registration-of-prototype.eventbrite.com.au
A finalist selection will be informed on 25th July 2015.
Leading to the fashion event, there is a series of Wearable Technologies workshops based on the Lilypad Arduino technology. The workshops are free to attend, where participants will have hands-on access to the latest wearable technologies with guidance on implementation of the designs. The next workshop will be held at the University of Melbourne, and we will follow up with details soon.
Wearable Electronics Workshop using the Lilypad Arduino Microcontroller
The IEEE Victorian WIE Affinity Group has put together a series of introductory workshop on wearable electronics. We will be using the LilyPad Arduino, a sewable microcontroller, to provide training to beginner and more advanced programmers in a creative environment that would be attractive to females.
LilyPad Arduino can be sewn to fabric using conductive thread and programmed using Arduino software. During the workshop, participants will be introduced to how this microcontroller and a set of sewable electronic modules can be used together to create interactive garments and accessories. The next part of the workshop will focus on software installation and connection of the board. Several simple programs are used to test the board and design simple circuits to use switches, sensors and LEDs. Once everyone has gained confidence in using the software and uploading programs to the board, participants will be given fabric, conductive thread and needles and guided to design a simple circuit and sew the components onto fabric.
Beginner and advanced workshops will be held on a monthly basis throughout 2015 being organised by the Victorian WIE team. The culmination of the program will be participants showcasing their e-textile clothing in an e-fashion runway later in the year!
You will have access to an Arduino Simple board or Protosnap board and some LEDs during the hands-on activities. If you would like to keep the board and components, there will be a cost to purchase them (about $40 - $70). You would be able to buy them during the day (cash or internet bank transfer) or order to collect at a later time. Alternatively, you may order them directly from Sparkfun.
Date: 20 June 2015 (Saturday)
09:00 for 09:30 start
09:30 – 10:15: Introduction to Lilypad Arduino and demonstrations
10:15 – 10:30: Morning tea break
10:30 – 12:00: Installation and hands-on activities, followed by discussion on potential projects and outcomes
Venue: Richard Newton Room, Level 5, EEE Department, University of Melbourne,Parkville VIC 3010