# Real World Talks
Real World Talks are sessions designed to connect Fab Learning Academy participants with professionals from around the globe who bring digital fabrication and related technologies into real educational contexts. Before each Field Activity, invited guests, including educators, researchers, practitioners, and education industry experts, share their experiences and projects. They provide practical examples on how digital fabrication and related technologies such as AI, electronics, programming can be utilized in education context. These talks aim to inspire participants, offering diverse perspectives and practical insights that help bridge the gap between learning and real-world application.
# Real World Talks 2025
# Olivia Kotsifa Founder of SYN Fab Lab
Olivia is an architect, designer, educator, and SDG advocate working at the intersection of digital fabrication, education, and social impact. She taught for eight years across undergraduate and postgraduate University programmes, where she also led the Interior Architecture department and contributed to interdisciplinary curriculum design. In 2010, she founded Fab Lab Cardiff, focusing on blending traditional making and new technologies, and the design of educational programmes. As a creative nomad for about 4 years, she has visited and collaborated with Fab Labs and educational organisations around the world, contributing to the exchange of practices and approaches in Fab Lab education. Olivia’s recent project is SYN Fab Lab, Greece’s first mobile Fab Lab, which designs and delivers educational activities and live, community-based projects aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Her work centres on educational design that supports critical thinking, collaboration, and meaningful social and environmental impact. She has been an SDG advocate and presenter at the Geneva Forum for four years. She is constantly amazed by people, music and nature.
# Belen Comotto
Belen is a Process Designer fascinated by the intersections of technology, sustainability, and human connection. Her projects explore themes of Degrowth, bio/symbiosis, and community, always emphasizing access to knowledge and inclusivity. She thrives in designing systems that reflect dynamic relationships and embrace complexity, often using tools like storytelling and data visualization to organize and grow her ideas. Central to her practice is an engagement with biofabrication and corporeal knowledge, where she explores how design can reconnect with ecological and embodied processes. Whether working with sustainable materials or reflecting on the sensory experiences tied to design, she aims to create work that is both meaningful and impactful. Her creative process also incorporates AI-driven analysis and visual storytelling to weave connections between emerging trends and societal needs.
# Roger Olivella Co-founder of Sistema THEAD
Roger has dedicated the past five years to reducing the digital divide through teacher training, organizational programs, and the creation of innovative educational materials. He co-developed Scratch Tactile (Tactile Jr), a physical, DIY, open, and inclusive adaptation of ScratchJr that brings coding concepts into the tangible world. His work is deeply connected to the Sustainable Development Goals, with a strong focus on inclusion, accessibility, and sustainability.
Recording: Making Computer Science Education More Accessible (opens new window)
# Jeremy Martineau Community Developer at Digital Moment
Jeremy Martineau, education facilitator and community developer, has a background in computer science and education. Passionate about popularizing and sharing knowledge, he aims to make learning enjoyable and facilitate access to digital skills. At Digital Moment, he contributes to programs that support youth and their communities in developing abilities in coding, algorithm and data literacy, and artificial intelligence.
Recording: Digital Moment: Innovative Coding and AI Education (opens new window)
# Chong Ing Kai Founder and CEO of Stick'Em
Kai is the founder & CEO of Stick 'Em. Tinkering with air cannons and flamethrowers since primary school, he started Stick'Em to make STEAM education more accessible to all with chopstick robots.
Since launching Stick 'Em in 2020, the startup has reached over 12,000 students and 1200 teachers across 11 countries, including 95 schools.
Kai is one of the youngest Forbes 30U30 Asia nominees, Philip Yeo Initiative Fellow, Tatler Gen T Leader of Tomorrow and global winner of the coveted Hult Prize 2025
Talk video: Making STEAM Education More Accessible (opens new window)
# Khushbu Kshirsagar Researcher at Tufts University
Khushbu Kshirsagar is an engineer, educator, and researcher passionate about hands-on STEAM learning beyond screens. Fascinated by making since childhood, she designs educational technologies that work offline, blending science, art, and storytelling into playful experiences. Currently studying STEM Education at Tufts University and researcher at the Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO).
Khushbu explores how prototyping can make learning more tangible and inclusive. She previously worked at Bosch Ltd, managed a makerspace in New Delhi, and designed STEM-based toys.
Talk video: Designing Screen-Free Learning Experiences (opens new window)
# Real World Talks 2024
# Dr Steven Greenstein Associate Professor of Mathematics, Montclair State University, US
Learning to teach elementary mathematics through digital design fabrication and evaluation
# Bartholomew Ting Fab Lab Singapore
Creating big cardboard structures
# Donn Koh Co-founder and Design Principal of STUCK Design
AI in Design
# Megumi Iwata Researcher at University of Oulu, Finland
Generation AI
# Erin E. Riley
Arts and Digital Fabrication
# Kirk Iin
Digital Fabrication and Crafts in Taipei