Ayah Bdeir
Innovator, TED Fellow and CEO of litteBits
Ayah Bdeir is the founder and CEO of littleBits, the award-winning company that invented the electronic building block and whose mission is to empower kids to be change-makers through invention and creativity.
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Full Bio
Ayah Bdeir is the founder and CEO of littleBits, the award-winning company that invented the electronic building block and whose mission is to empower kids to be change-makers through invention and creativity. The company is the leader in education and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) and has partnered with industry giants, including Disney, Pearson, and the New York Department of Education.
Bdeir is an engineer, interactive artist and one of the leaders of the open hardware movement. Her career has centered on making education and innovation more accessible to people around the world and in 2010 she received a fellowship at Creative Commons which led to co-founding the premier conference on Open Hardware, the Open Hardware Summit. Since 2006 Bdeir has lectured and advised extensively on how to get more girls into STEM, including at the White House “Breaking down gender stereotypes in Media and Toys” panel, at the World Bank “Disrupting the Gender Divide” conference and on the “Women in the World” stage with Tina Brown.
An alumna of the MIT Media Lab, and of Eyebeam Art and Technology Center, Bdeir founded littleBits in 2011, after exhibiting a prototype at World Maker Faire in New York City. The prototype was later acquired into the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) permanent collection. In 2012, Bdeir was awarded the highly prestigious TED fellowship and her TED talk: “Building Blocks that Blink, Beep and Teach” has over 1 million views.
Through her work with littleBits, Bdeir has received countless awards including being named one of Popular Mechanics 25 Makers Who Are Reinventing the American Dream, Inc Magazine Top 100 Female Founders, on the CNBC Next List and on MIT Technology Review’s list of 35 Innovators Under 35.
Bdeir received her master’s degree from the MIT Media Lab and undergraduate degrees in Computer Engineering and Sociology from the American University of Beirut.
Originally from Beirut, Ayah now lives in New York City.
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Ernie was perfect for our Elders Conference at Little River Casino Resort in Manistee, Michigan. We will definitely be using PDA again!
LITTLE RIVER BAND OF OTTAWA INDIANS
Our speaker was great and the crowd enjoyed her! She was very engaging. Thank you again PDA for the great list of suggestions!
MEDTRONIC
Everything went great! and our speaker was wonderful! Thank you so much for all your help PDA! Looking forward to the next one.
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI – KANSAS CITY
I hope that this message finds you well. We had a phenomenal time with Atsuko this past Thursday. We wanted to just let you know how amazing she was. All those that were in attendance thoroughly enjoyed her and had nothing but amazing things to say about her. Thank you for working with us to make sure this happened!
BAYLOR UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
We had a fantastic day with Inge! She was very engaging with all those that attended. Her personal stories about the holocaust were very special and we were moved that she was willing to share them with everyone. Thank you again, PDA for all your hard work and dedication to make this program such a success!
SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Dear PDA Group, Thank you so much for your hard work in scheduling our speaker! From the moment we reached out to you the first time, you worked with us on all details and logistics and kept us up-to-date on the progress. Thank you for all your hard work on making our event such a success! We couldn't have done it without you and your team!
SAP COMPANY
Thank you again, Dr. Kimbrough, for a great presentation, our attendees are still talking about it!
CAMPUS LABS
Dr. Henry Lee's presentation was entertaining, insightful and wise. I, and everyone at Pfizer, especially appreciate the remarks you directed about following your passion and preparing yourself to excel. Thank you, everyone, at PDA for helping to make this happen!
PFIZER
The event was successful! I received many messages expressing how awesome, outstanding and inspiring Ms. Webb-Christburg's speech was."
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. MEMORIAL BREAKFAST, BOSTON, MLK SPEAKER
Everything went well. Atsuko was very easy to work with and the students enjoyed her performance! Thank you again for your recommendation and I hope to work with you again in the future!
CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Dr. Novello left this morning after a very successful event on our campus! Thank you PDA Group for your help from the first phone to the last you were with us every step of the way.
GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
Jordan Carlos was very very entertaining! A majority of students who answered the event survey indicated they really enjoyed Jordan and definitely will bring him back!
WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
On behalf of myself and my organization Entertainment Unlimited the Campus Programming Board of Ferris State University, we thank you PDA and Dan for a successful event!! Dan was magnificent! Students really enjoyed the presentation. I know I did. Can't wait to bring in more programs with PDA Group.
FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY
It was a great pleasure to work with PDA Group! The communication was always prompt, friendly and helpful. We loved the speakers and events we booked through Mr. Peter Walker (PDA Group).
WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Thank you, Peter, for all your help, you'll be happy to know that the event went incredibly well! Aneesa Ferreira was by far one of the best speakers we've ever had!
FURMAN UNIVERSITY
Topics
A Conversation with Ayah Bdeir
Videos
Meet Ayah Bdeir: 2014 Innovator Under 35
The Internet as a building block | Ayah Bdeir
Books
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Testimonials
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