IEEE Spectrum August, 2011 - 4

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EditoriAl
Editor in chiEf

A 3-D Me

ManaGinG Editor

Jean Kumagai, j.kumagai@ieee.org; Samuel K.
Moore (news), s.k.moore@ieee.org; tekla S. Perry, t.perry@
ieee.org; Philip E. ross, p.ross@ieee.org; david Schneider,
d.a.schneider@ieee.org

SEnior aSSociatE EditorS Steven cherry (resources),
s.cherry@ieee.org; Erico Guizzo, e.guizzo@ieee.org

rachel courtland, r.courtland@ieee.org;
Marisa Plumb, m.plumb@ieee.org; Joshua J. romero (online),
j.j.romero@ieee.org; Eliza Strickland, e.strickland@ieee.org

aSSociatE EditorS

aSSiStant Editor

Willie d. Jones, w.jones@ieee.org

SEnior coPy Editor
coPy Editor

Joseph n. levine, j.levine@ieee.org

Michele Kogon, m.kogon@ieee.org

Editorial rESEarchEr

alan Gardner, a.gardner@ieee.org

ExEcutivE ProducEr, SPEctruM radio

Sharon Basco

aSSiStant ProducEr, SPEctruM radio

francesco ferorelli,

f.ferorelli@ieee.org
adMiniStrativE aSSiStantS ramona foster, r.foster@ieee.org;
nancy t. hantman, n.hantman@ieee.org
intErn

ritchie S. King, ritchie.king@ieee.org

John Blau, robert n. charette,
Peter fairley, david Kushner, robert W. lucky,
Paul Mcfedries, Prachi Patel, carl Selinger,
Seema Singh, William Sweet, John voelcker
contriButinG EditorS

Art & productioN
SEnior art dirEctor

Mark Montgomery

aSSiStant art dirEctor
Photo Editor

Brandon Palacio

randi Silberman Klett

dirEctor, PEriodicalS Production SErvicES
Editorial & WEB Production ManaGEr
SEnior ElEctronic layout SPEcialiSt
WEB Production coordinator

Peter tuohy

roy carubia
Bonnie nani

Jacqueline l. Parker

MultiMEdia Production SPEcialiSt

Michael Spector

EditoriAl AdviSory BoArd
Susan hassler, Chair; Gerard a. alphonse, Marc t. apter,
francine d. Berman, Jan Brown, raffaello d'andrea, J. roberto
B. de Marca, hiromichi fujisawa, Kenneth y. Goldberg, Susan
hackwood, Bin he, Erik heijne, charles h. house, christopher
J. James, ruby B. lee, John P. lewis, tak Ming Mak, carmen S.
Menoni, david a. Mindell, c. Mohan, fritz Morgan, andrew M.
odlyzko, larry l. Smarr, harry l. tredennick iii, Sergio verdú,
Jeffrey M. voas, William Weihl, Kazuo yano

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From Top: Bre peTTis (2); randi silBerman KleTT

watched as the scan slowly filled
in on an adjacent computer screen.
Klett's curly hair presented a
particular challenge; a second round
of scanning was needed. Days later,
the MakerBot would construct the
actual bust, which now sits in Klett's
office, next to other memorabilia of
photo shoots past.
After the scan, a cornstarch-free
Klett returned to her photo shoot.
There was a brief moment of panic
when it seemed that one of the key
items on her list was unavailable.
But then Raphael Abrams, a
32-year-old freelance designer and
electrical engineer, looked up from
his laptop. "A logic analyzer?" he
asked. "I have one in my bag."
o

IEEE Spectrum publishes two editions. in the international edition, the abbreviation int appears at the foot
of each page. the north american edition is identified with the letters na. Both have the same editorial
content, but because of differences in advertising, page numbers may differ. in citations, you should
include the issue designation. for example, the data is in IEEE Spectrum, vol. 48, no. 8 (int), august 2011,
p. 56, or in IEEE Spectrum, vol. 48, no. 8 (na), august 2011, p. 64.

NA * iEEE SpEctrum * AuguSt 2011

harry Goldstein, h.goldstein@ieee.org

Elizabeth a. Bretz, e.bretz@ieee.org

SEnior EditorS

citiNg ArticlES iN iEEE SpEctrum

Glenn Zorpette, g.zorpette@ieee.org

Editorial dirEctor, diGital

very now and then our photo
editor, Randi Silberman Klett,
finds herself on the other side
of the camera lens. But she wasn't
expecting that to happen in a gritty
workshop in Brooklyn, N.Y.
It all started with an article
draft on how to set up a workshop
for electronics [Hands On, "DIY
Essentials," in this issue]. Klett
needed to get photos for the story
and "knew instantly who to call,"
she says-the folks at NYC Resistor,
a community-owned hobbyist,
tinkerer, and educational space in
downtown Brooklyn.
On the day of the shoot, a
typically motley crew was on
hand doing the usual sort of work,
in this case cutting wood for a
portable pool to fit in a pickup
truck. (Who hasn't wanted one of
those?) In a front room, meanwhile,
programmers quietly tapped away
on keyboards, unperturbed by the
shrieks of a circular saw.
As Klett set up her camera
equipment, NYC Resistor cofounder
Bre Pettis peeked in to ask if
anyone wanted to be scanned in
3-D. Pettis, who once contributed
an article to IEEE Spectrum about
an automated bartender, heads
MakerBot Industries, which sells
kits for desktop "printers" that
produce 3-D objects.
Klett immediately volunteered
to be scanned. Moments later, she
had cornstarch all over her face;
it turns out that the Polhemus
FastScan Scorpion laser scanner
sees light colors best.
A young man named Jonathan
Monaghan warned Klett to keep her
eyes shut and then scanned her face,
head, and shoulders. Spectators

Susan hassler, s.hassler@ieee.org

ExEcutivE Editor

http://spectrum.ieee.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum August, 2011