I'm a Stanford product designer who has always wanted to start my own non-profit, impact-driven makerspace.
Here's my growing collection of inventions and engineering projects - let me know if you make any of them yourself!
No problem is too big or small for me – if you are looking for a creative solution for a pain point in your life, I'd love to hear from you & help. Reach out to me (team@akshaydinakar.com). To hear about new inventions, join my mailing list below:
Support my studio!
100% of donations are used for prosthetic prototyping expenses, which are in-turn donated directly to users or sold at-cost. Thank you for making a difference!
Inventions
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Armor : a secure, analog medical record on your wrist for health emergencies in environments without internet.
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Beatclipse : a cosmic-themed loveseat that transforms into an eclipse when the heartbeats of users sync up.
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Frictionless : a spinning foot massage robot.
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Glowbes : adorable, pocket-sized orbs to keep you company in the dark.
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IV Stand Base : protecting patients from foot injuries and ankle bruises.
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Jellyfish : a nanosuction LED lamp that sticks to any wall or ceiling in your room.
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Kulick : an LED-themed remix of the Iron Man suit, complete with lasers & an in-built speaker system.
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Moonwalk : a haptic prosthetic sensor for individuals with nerve damage.
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Prankster Lantern : a glowing hedron to fool your friends.
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Stradavinci : a prosthetic designed to help musicians bow a stringed instrument, simply by flexing their toes.
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Terrain : a shape-shifting surface, responsive in realtime to location-pressure input.
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Vibraflow : the first modular, fully-customizable, 3D-printed electric violin.
Writing
I love writing about design, entrepreneurship, & creativity.
Creative Current : 50 Ideation Techniques to Spark Your Lightbulb. (Amazon)
Intentional Living : A guide to using the design mindset to improve your living space & community. (Amazon)
Will You Play With Me? : A children's book on empathy & inclusivity for individuals with disabilities. (Amazon)
The Top 30 Things I Learned at Stanford : Snippets of knowledge & golden rules from my undergraduate experience, from the perspective of a designer. (LinkedIn)
Tasting Clouds : My mini-book of original poetry. (Amazon)
The Exhibition : A handpicked original short story from my collection. (Short Story)
On the personal side :
I'm now a Californian, but I had an incredible midwestern childhood and am a happy product of Kansas public schools. If I'm not in design-studio mode, you'll likely find me sketching architectural blueprints, recording classical/pop/rnb electric violin, writing short-story mysteries, hanging rim on the basketball court, cooking really spicy Asian food, or going on an urban adventure (check out these concrete slides!).
What I'm currently up to:
• Tangible Teleportation Co., bringing physical touch to video calls to help distance-separated couples & families feel physically present with far-away loved ones.
• The Abundance Project, a 2-year ethnographic study to understand if/how to evolve our society from "owning and selling resources", to sharing and donating them.
A few notable initiatives I've led in the past:
• Chameleon Design Firm, a design consultancy where I worked on a dozen mechanical / brand design projects throughout college, along with 5 other designers.
• NYO-U, the first open-access music education platform for aspiring classical musicians, which I founded in partnership with Carnegie Hall.
• The Stanford Flashmob Orchestra, a group that serendipitously performed arrangements of pop songs and other well-known tunes to spread delight.
• FroSoHappy, an organic movement within college dorms to spread happiness.
