​Dedicated to Lynn Conway: Mentor, Trailblazer and Survivor

​We dedicate tonight's SudoRoom hardware hack night to the educator, inventor, and mentor Lynn Conway. She was passionate and resilient, rebuilding her career after getting fired from IBM for her transition, starting from the bottom as a contractor before going on to the famous research labs of Xerox PARC and then inventing a design methodology VSLI for microchips that revolutionized the computer industry.  A brilliant professor, she inspired hundreds of students at the University of Michigan.

​"My field would not exist without Lynn Conway. Chips used to be designed by drawing them with paper and pencil like an architect's blueprints in the pre-digital era. Conway's work developed algorithms that enabled our field to use software to arrange millions, and later billions, of transistors on a chip."

​Valeria Bertacco, the Mary Lou Dorf Collegiate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and University of Michigan Vice Provost for Engaged Learning. 

​Fighting for What's Right

​Lynn was also an advocate for trans and LBGT rights and the oppressed. She named her experiences of others taking credit fr her work as the Conway Effect, "and chronicled instances involving others who 'weren't expected to innovate'" We appreciate her ability to withstand so many obstacles in life, socially as well as professionally and fight for the rights of the oppressed!

​Hack on Anything and Everything

​​○ Projects: can range from building course materials for teaching local kids electronics to a robotic arm that draws, to light projection art, to people building their own microchip boards! We provide the space, tools and peer learning – you bring your project and enthusiasm!

​​○ Group Sewing: Learn to do simple mending or get help with technical fabric and textile projects. In addition to regular machines our Sewing Lab features heavy-duty industrial sewing machines and sergers. Our in house sewing guru CC has worked for Academy or Art College, Tesla, SuitX, and Zipline and has vast sewing machine repair and maintenance experience; bring your own machine to tune up for tip-top operation and sew alongside others.

​​○ General Repair: Fix it Clinic’s weekly Oakland residency: bring your broken, non-functioning things – electronic gadgets, appliances, computers, toys, sewing machines, fabric items, etc.– for assessment, disassembly, and possible repair. We’ll provide workspace, specialty tools, and guidance to help you disassemble and troubleshoot your item. First-time repairers and “Fixing Families” are heartily invited. Learn more at https://www.fixitclinic.org/

​​https://sudoroom.org/wiki/HardwareHackNight