Shenzhen Special 4 – Violet Su at Chaihuo X.Factory

Shenzhen Special 6 – Maker Ed

In this episode, I’m visiting three people all working in maker education. My first stop is at the Shenzhen American International School in the Shekou district of Shenzhen, to meet Carrie Leung, who teaches a maker-based curriculum there. [http://lookingsideways.net/ls-bits/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Students-experimenting-with-motors-sm.jpg]Students experimenting with motors at SAISJust down the road from SAIS is Steamhead Makerspace. Set up by James Simpson, it’s a space where a community of teachers can learn from each other. [http://lookingsideways.net/ls-bits/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/James-Steamhead.jpg]James at Steamhead makerspaceMy final visit was to see Lit Lao, who’s the founder of Litchee Lab. They design maker education content for schools, to help kids develop their creative skills. [http://lookingsideways.net/ls-bits/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/LitLao.jpg]Lit Lao, founder of Litchee Lab[http://lookingsideways.net/ls-bits/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Student-workbook.jpg]Student workbook for a Litchee Lab projectLINKS * Shenzhen American International School [http://www.szsais.org] * Project Based Learning [https://www.bie.org/about/what_pbl] * Design Thinking at Ideo [https://www.ideou.com/pages/design-thinking] * Steamhead [https://steamheadsz.com] * Litchee Lab [http://www.litchee.cn] * Student workbook on github (PDF) [https://github.com/litcheelab/litcheelab_badges/blob/master/student_handbook.pdf] This podcast series is part of the British Council’s Hello Shenzhen [https://creativeconomy.britishcouncil.org/projects/hello-shenzhen/] programme. It is aLighthouse [http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/] production. Lighthouse is an arts and culture agency based in Brighton in the UK, producing, supporting and presenting new art, film, music, design and games. Music is by Broke For Free [https://soundcloud.com/broke-for-free]

Shenzhen Special 5: Product Design

In this episode, we focus on design – and in particular, how designers help bring products to life through Shenzhen’s vast network of suppliers and manufacturers. Shenzhen is a destination for anyone who manufactures electronics products, whether they’re Apple, or a hardware startup that’s just cruised through it’s crowdfunding goal. Some of the bigger manufacturers have all the design or engineering expertise they need in-house, but many look outside to bring in skills they can’t cover from their own teams. That’s where my two guests today come in. They both work for product design companies: Innozen Design, and Artop Group – working at different scales, but providing many of the same services to clients from China and overseas. We talk about how products get made in Shenzhen, the rise of the Chinese consumer, and the new power of Chinese brands. [http://lookingsideways.net/ls-bits/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/MichaelZhengofInnozenDesign-sm2.jpeg]Michael Zheng, Innozen Design[http://lookingsideways.net/ls-bits/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/SavioLai-ArtopGroup-sm.jpeg]Savio Lai, Artop GroupLINKS * Innozen Design [http://www.innozendesign.com] * 3D Pen – with cool ink! [https://www.creopop.com] * Artop Group [http://www.artopcn.com/en/] * OEM vs ODM [https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-ODM-and-OEM] * Xiaomi, the rising Chinese star [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-15/china-s-top-phone-makers-poised-to-challenge-apple-on-home-turf] * Double 11 / Singles Day [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singles%27_Day] This podcast series is part of the British Council’s Hello Shenzhen [https://creativeconomy.britishcouncil.org/projects/hello-shenzhen/] programme. It is aLighthouse [http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/] production. Lighthouse is an arts and culture agency based in Brighton in the UK, producing, supporting and presenting new art, film, music, design and games. Music is by Podington Bear [http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/].

Shenzhen Special 4 – Violet Su at Chaihuo X.Factory

[http://lookingsideways.net/ls-bits/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/VioletSu-sm.jpg]Violet SuIn China, the term makerspace can mean many different things; some unrecognisable to people used to a European or American use of that word. But Chaihuo X.Factory [http://www.chaihuo.org/xfactory/] would be familiar to any maker coming from outside China, with a co-working desk space, machine shop and woodshop, and an enviable selection of tools. [http://lookingsideways.net/ls-bits/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Fabrication-machines-XFactory-sm.jpg]Fabrication mchines at XFactoryChaihuo is perhaps most famous as the the site of a visit by Premier Li Keqiang in 2015. It’s that visit that helped give makerspaces in China visibility and validation as centres of entrepreneurship. In this episode, I speak with Violet Su, community manager at Chaihuo. Wetalk about how it became famous as the poster child for makerspaces in China; gender in makerspaces; and the unique appeal of Shenzhen. LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE * Chaihuo X.Factory [http://www.chaihuo.org/xfactory/] * Seeed Studio [https://www.seeedstudio.io] * Premier Li Keqiang visits Chaihuo [http://english.gov.cn/premier/photos/2015/01/04/content_281475034064167.htm] * Taobao [https://world.taobao.com] [http://lookingsideways.net/ls-bits/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/XFactory-coworking-space-sm.jpg]XFactory co-working space[http://lookingsideways.net/ls-bits/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/VankeDesignCommune-sm.jpg]Vanke Design Commune, where XFactory is located This podcast series is part of the British Council’s Hello Shenzhen [https://creativeconomy.britishcouncil.org/projects/hello-shenzhen/] programme. It is aLighthouse [http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/] production. Lighthouse is an arts and culture agency based in Brighton in the UK, producing, supporting and presenting new art, film, music, design and games. Music is byBlank & Kytt [http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Blank__Kytt/].

Shenzhen Special 3 – Vicky Xie at SZOIL

[http://lookingsideways.net/ls-bits/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Vicky-Xie-in-front-of-the-Shopbot-at-SZOIL-copy.jpg] In this episode, I speak with Vicky Xie, who’s the global cooperation director of SZOIL (Shenzhen Open Innovation Lab). As well as running a fablab, they help foreign companies plug into the local supply chain, helping them understand how to work with factories, component manufacturers and designers in Shenzhen. We talk about open source in China, copycat products and the way Chinese makers and manufacturers embrace the free market. In particular, we focus on Shanzhai, an approach to technology development which has a complicated past, but is now credited with fuelling Shenzhen’s rapid innovation culture. LINKS * SZOIL [https://www.szoil.org] * Shanzhai, Gongban and Gongmo [https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/05/chinas-mass-production-system/370898/] * Mass Innovation and Entrepreneurship in China [https://thediplomat.com/2014/08/entrepreneurs-chinas-next-growth-engine/] This podcast series is part of the British Council’s Hello Shenzhen [https://creativeconomy.britishcouncil.org/projects/hello-shenzhen/] programme. It is aLighthouse [http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/] production. Lighthouse is an arts and culture agency based in Brighton in the UK, producing, supporting and presenting new art, film, music, design and games. Music is byBlank & Kytt [http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Blank__Kytt/].

Shenzhen Special 2 — Christina Zhang from Kittenbot

[http://lookingsideways.net/ls-bits/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Christina-Zhang-founder-of-Kittenbot-1000x667.jpg]Christina Zhang, founder of KittenbotIn the 2nd episode of this special series reporting from Shenzhen, the world centre for electronics manufacturing, I speak with Christina Zhang [https://twitter.com/peromelove?lang=en], the co-founder of Kittenbot [http://www.kittenbot.cc]. Kittenbot make educational robot kits with motors, sensors and onboard computers, all built using open-source hardware and software. They’re built on the popular Arduino platform, and can be controlled using Scratch, a simple programming tool used in schools around the world to teach kids the fundamentals of programming with a friendly, drag-and-drop interface. But Kittenbot kits go further, also allowing users to programme them using Python, a more advanced programming language used by professional developers for ‘real-world’ tasks. In this interview, we talk about why Christina helped set up Kittenbot, the special appeal of Shenzhen, and the secret of survival in the city’s fiercely competitive technology market. LINKS * Kittenbot on Taobao [https://kittenbot.world.taobao.com], the Chinese ecommerce site * Programming languages and platforms: Scratch [https://scratch.mit.edu], Arduino [https://www.arduino.cc], Python [https://www.python.org] * Chris Anderson – Makers: The New Industrial Revolution [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Makers-Industrial-Revolution-Chris-Anderson/dp/0307720950/] * The “BOM”, or Bill of Materials [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_of_materials] * Shanzhai [https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/05/chinas-mass-production-system/370898/] (This is the narrative about Shanzhai which seems to be most commonly shared today. It is not uncontested. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanzhai]) [http://lookingsideways.net/ls-bits/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Kittenbot-robot-kit-1000x628.jpg]Kittenbot robot kit[http://lookingsideways.net/ls-bits/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Work-in-progress-at-Kittenbot-1000x667.jpg]Work in progress at Kittenbot[http://lookingsideways.net/ls-bits/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/One-of-the-office-cats-at-Kittenbot-1000x667.jpg]One of the office cats This podcast series is part of the British Council’s Hello Shenzhen [https://creativeconomy.britishcouncil.org/projects/hello-shenzhen/] programme. It is aLighthouse [http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/] production. Lighthouse is an arts and culture agency, based in Brighton in the UK, producing, supporting and presenting new art, film, music, design and games. Music for this episode is by Audiobinger [http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Audiobinger/].