{{Short description|American electrical engineer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Limor Fried | image = Limor Fried TC2013.jpg | alt = | caption = Limor Fried at TechCrunch Disrupt NY (2013) | spouse = Phillip Torrone | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Brookline, Massachusetts, US<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D27U3wHN8fs | title=Limor Fried, Founder & CEO, Adafruit Industries | MAKERS | website=YouTube | date=March 11, 2018 }}</ref> | death_date = | death_place = | other_names = ladyada | known_for = Adafruit Industries<br />Open source movement<br />Open-source hardware movement | boards = | occupation = Electrical engineer | website = {{URL|https://www.ladyada.net/}} | alma_mater = MIT (SB, 2003; MEng 2005) }} '''Limor Fried''' is an American electrical engineer and owner of the electronics hobbyist company Adafruit Industries. She is influential in the open-source hardware community, having participated in the first Open Source Hardware Summit and the drafting of the ''Open Source Hardware'' definition, and is known by her moniker ''ladyada'', an homage to Lady Ada Lovelace.
== Career and recognition == Fried studied at MIT, earning a BS in electrical engineering and computer science (EECS) in 2003 and a Master of Engineering in EECS in 2005. For part of the qualification she created a project called ''Social Defense Mechanisms: Tools for Reclaiming Our Personal Space''. Following the concept of critical design she prototyped glasses that darken when a television is in view, and a low-power RF jammer that prevents cell phones from operating in a user's personal space.<ref name=Research>{{cite web|title=Research|url=http://www.ladyada.net/pub/research.html|publisher=ladyada.net|access-date=April 17, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis|title=Social defense mechanisms : tools for reclaiming our personal space|url=https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/33151|publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology|date=2005|degree=M. Eng.|first=Limor|last=Fried|hdl=1721.1/33151}}</ref>
Fried was an Eyebeam fellow from 2005 to 2006.<ref>{{cite web|title=Eyebeam Limor Fried|url=http://eyebeam.org/people/limor-fried|website=Eyebeam|access-date=January 27, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = An interview with Limor Fried {{!}} The Blueprint|url = https://theblueprint.com/stories/limor-fried/|website = The Blueprint|access-date = February 1, 2016|language = en-US|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://archive.today/20150223015216/https://theblueprint.com/stories/limor-fried/|archive-date = February 23, 2015}}</ref>
During 2005, Fried founded what became Adafruit Industries, first in her MIT dorm room, later moving to New York City.<ref name="Rozenfeld2015">{{Cite web| title = How DIY Electronics Startup Adafruit Industries Became a Multimillion-Dollar Company| author = Monica Rozenfeld| work = IEEE – The Institute| date = September 9, 2015| access-date = September 28, 2015| url = http://theinstitute.ieee.org/technology-focus/technology-topic/how-diy-electronics-startup-adafruit-industries-became-a-multimillion-dollar-company| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150918001259/http://theinstitute.ieee.org/technology-focus/technology-topic/how-diy-electronics-startup-adafruit-industries-became-a-multimillion-dollar-company| url-status = dead| archive-date = September 18, 2015| quote="...started the venture in her dorm room at MIT..."}}</ref> The company designs and resells open source electronic kits, components, and tools, mainly for the hobbyist market.<ref name="Kinect" /> In 2010 the company had eight employees and shipped more than $3 million worth of product.<ref name="Kinect" /> The company's mission extends beyond the adult hobbyist audience to pre-school STEM education.<ref name="Kumagai2013">{{Cite web| title = Profile: Limor Fried| last = Kumagai| first = Jean| work = IEEE – Spectrum| date = April 22, 2013| access-date = September 28, 2015| url = https://spectrum.ieee.org/profile-limor-fried| quote = Lately she and her team are out to prove that even the preschool set can appreciate the beauty of the electron.}}</ref> Adafruit is a company based on sharing ideas as well as resources; everyone who works for the company is offered the same 401k plan and they get paid time off for volunteer nonprofit work.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fried|first=Limor|date=June 13, 2017|title=Running an alt.business: being a good cause and doing good business|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3094549|journal=XRDS: Crossroads, the ACM Magazine for Students|volume=23|issue=4|pages=32–35|doi=10.1145/3094549|s2cid=33653003|issn=1528-4972|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
In 2009, she was awarded the Pioneer Award by the Electronic Frontier Foundation for her participation in the open source hardware and software community.<ref name="Electronic Frontier Foundation">{{cite web|title=Hardware Hacker, E-Voting Investigator, and Public Domain Advocate Win Pioneer Awards|url=https://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/10/05|publisher=Electronic Frontier Foundation|access-date=February 14, 2013|date=October 6, 2009}}</ref>
In 2011, Fried was awarded the Most Influential Women in Technology award by ''Fast Company'' magazine<ref name="fastcompany_2011">{{cite web|last=Zax |first=David |title=Limor Fried |url=http://www.fastcompany.com/women-in-tech/2011/entrepreneurs/limor-fried |work=2011 Most Influential Women in Technology |publisher=Fast Company |access-date=February 14, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128145844/http://www.fastcompany.com/women-in-tech/2011/entrepreneurs/limor-fried |archive-date=January 28, 2013 }}</ref> and became the first female engineer featured on the cover of ''Wired'' magazine.<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.wired.com/magazine/19-04/ | magazine=Wired | title=Wired Issue 19.04 | date=March 29, 2011}}</ref> In that same issue of ''Wired'' she said, "Having websites that sell parts online is a really big deal. It used to be that if you wanted to order parts to make something, you had to dig through a catalog, and they probably wouldn't even send you one if you weren't a professional. Now everything is online. You can just Google the parts to make your submarine."<ref>{{Citation|title=8. Biotechnology's Open Source Revolution|date=December 31, 2008|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4159/9780674033603-009|work=Biobazaar|pages=292–334|publisher=Harvard University Press|doi=10.4159/9780674033603-009|isbn=978-0-674-03360-3|access-date=September 23, 2020|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
In a 2012 interview with CNET, Fried said, "If there's one thing I'd like to see from this, it would be for some kids to say to themselves 'I could do that' and start the journey to becoming an engineer and entrepreneur."<ref>{{cite news|last=Blue|first=Violet|title=Magazine names hacker Limor Fried 'Entrepreneur of the Year'|url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57559689-93/magazine-names-hacker-limor-fried-entrepreneur-of-the-year/|access-date=February 14, 2013|newspaper=CNET|date=December 17, 2012}}</ref><ref name=Matheson>{{cite news|last=Matheson|first=Rob|title=Meet the maker: MIT alumna Limor Fried has become a pioneer of the 'maker movement' with her multimillion-dollar company|url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/limor-fried-adafruit-0531.html|access-date=November 22, 2013|newspaper=MIT News|date=May 30, 2013}}</ref> She is also quoted as saying, "There's always something newer and funner and more glossy, but we want to make sure people can actually build stuff, too."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Herrera-Charles |first1=Roberto |last2=Alvarez-Sanchez |first2=Teodoro |last3=Alvarez-Cedillo |first3=Jesus A. |title=Applications of Digital Image Processing XLIII |chapter=Synthesis of video processing with open-source hardware descriptor languages |editor1-first=Andrew G |editor1-last=Tescher |editor2-first=Touradj |editor2-last=Ebrahimi |date=2020 |volume=11510 |pages=115101W |doi=10.1117/12.2568949 |bibcode=2020SPIE11510E..1WH |isbn=9781510638266 |s2cid=222110327 |chapter-url=https://ipn.elsevierpure.com/es/publications/synthesis-of-video-processing-with-open-source-hardware-descripto}}</ref>
Fried is a member of the IEEE Spectrum editorial advisory board {{as of|2017|lc=on}}.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cass|first1=Stephen|title=Build an Illuminated Halloween Costume With the Wearable Gemma M0 Microcontroller|url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/build-an-illuminated-halloween-costume-with-the-wearable-gemma-m0-microcontroller|website=IEEE Spectrum|date=September 27, 2017|publisher=IEEE|access-date=May 2, 2018}}</ref>
== Awards == * 2009 Pioneer Award by the Electronic Frontier Foundation<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eff.org/awards/pioneer/2009 |title=2009 Pioneer Awards |publisher=Electronic Frontier Foundation|date=October 22, 2009}}</ref> * 2011 Most Influential Women in Technology award by Fast Company magazine<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3016954/the-most-influential-women-in-technology-2011-limor-fried |title=The Most Influential Women in Technology 2011 – Limor Fried |work=Fast Company |publisher=Fast Company|date=January 10, 2011}}</ref> * 2012 ''Entrepreneur'' "Entrepreneur of the Year". Of the 15 finalists, she was the only female.<ref>[http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225213 Entrepreneur (magazine)]</ref> * 2015 White House Champion of Change (Making)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/champions|title=Champions of Change|publisher=whitehouse.gov}}</ref> * 2018 Forbes' America's Top 50 Women In Tech.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/limor-fried/?list=top-tech-women-america |title=Limor Fried |work=Forbes}}</ref> * 2019 STEP Ahead Honoree, Women in Manufacturing by The Manufacturing Institute<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.themanufacturinginstitute.org/Initiatives/Women-in-Manufacturing/Past-Honorees/2019-Honorees/2018/Fried/Fried.aspx |title=2019 STEP Ahead Honoree |publisher=The Manufacturing Institute |date=April 2019 |access-date=July 27, 2019 |archive-date=July 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727140724/http://www.themanufacturinginstitute.org/Initiatives/Women-in-Manufacturing/Past-Honorees/2019-Honorees/2018/Fried/Fried.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> * 2019 Women in Open Source Award (Community) by Red Hat<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/announcing-winners-2019-women-open-source-awards |title=Announcing the winners of the 2019 Women in Open Source Awards |publisher=Red Hat|date=May 6, 2019}}</ref> * 2023 GitHub Awards - Hardware Hacker<ref>{{cite web|url=https://github.blog/2023-11-09-celebrating-the-github-awards-2023-recipients/ |title=Celebrating the GitHub Awards 2023 recipients |publisher=GitHub|date=November 9, 2023}}</ref> * 2026 Forbes 250 America's Greatest Innovators<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2026/02/11/forbes-250-americas-greatest-innovators/ |title=Forbes 250 America's Greatest Innovators |publisher=Forbes|date=February 11, 2026}}</ref>
== Open Kinect Project == In response to the launch of Microsoft's Kinect for the Xbox 360 in 2010, Fried, along with Phillip Torrone, organized a $1,000 challenge to create an open source driver.<ref name="Kinect">{{cite news|last=Tozzi|first=John|title=Adafruit Targets Tinkerers With 'Open-Source' Electronics Kits|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-06/adafruit-targets-tinkerers-with-open-source-electronics-kits.html|access-date=February 14, 2013|newspaper=Bloomberg|date=December 6, 2010}}</ref> After Microsoft condemned the challenge as modification to their product, Adafruit increased the prize to $2,000 and then $3,000.<ref name="AdaBounty">{{cite web|title=The Open Kinect project – THE OK PRIZE – get $3,000 bounty for Kinect for Xbox 360 open source drivers|work=adafruit industries blog |date=November 4, 2010|url=https://www.adafruit.com/blog/2010/11/04/the-open-kinect-project-the-ok-prize-get-1000-bounty-for-kinect-for-xbox-360-open-source-drivers/|publisher=Adafruit|access-date=February 14, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = Kinect Hack Makes Microsoft Angry, Deny its Existence|url = http://www.pcworld.com/article/210496/kinect_hack_makes_microsoft_angry_deny_its_existence.html|website = PCWorld|access-date = November 23, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Bounty offered for open-source Kinect driver|url=http://www.cnet.com/news/bounty-offered-for-open-source-kinect-driver/|website=cnet.com|access-date=December 9, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=$2,000 Bounty Put on Open-Source Kinect Drivers|url=https://www.wired.com/2010/11/kinect-drivers/|magazine=Wired|access-date=December 9, 2015|last1=Brown|first1=Mark}}</ref> This prompted a response from a Microsoft company spokesperson: {{blockquote|Microsoft does not condone the modification of its products ... With Kinect, Microsoft built in numerous hardware and software safeguards designed to reduce the chances of product tampering. Microsoft will continue to make advances in these types of safeguards and work closely with law enforcement and product safety groups to keep Kinect tamper-resistant.<ref>{{cite news|last=Terdiman|first=Daniel|title=Bounty offered for open-source Kinect driver|url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20021836-52.html|access-date=February 14, 2013|newspaper=CNET|date=November 4, 2010}}</ref>}}
After significant advancements in the open source drivers, spokespeople from Microsoft stated that they did not condemn the challenge, and in fact were excited to see what the community developed.<ref>{{cite web|last=Flatow|first=Ira|title=How The X-Box Kinect Tracks Your Moves|url=https://www.npr.org/2010/11/19/131447076/how-the-x-box-kinect-tracks-your-moves|publisher=National Public Radio|access-date=February 14, 2013|date=November 19, 2010}}</ref>
== Personal life == Fried is married to ''Hackaday'' founder, former ''Make'' editor, and former ''Engadget'' podcast host Phillip Torrone. In 2022 they had a baby.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=457im3lV1wI?t=4027 | title=Ask an Engineer 11/9/2022 Live! | website=YouTube | date=November 9, 2022 }}</ref>
== See also == * Adafruit Industries * Ayah Bdeir – entrepreneur and founder of littleBits * Becky Stern – Maker and the former director of Wearable Electronics at Adafruit * Jeri Ellsworth – entrepreneur and inventor of C64 Direct-to-TV
== References == <!--- See Wikipedia:Footnotes on how to create references using tags which will then appear here automatically --> {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category}} * {{Citation | url = https://www.adafruit.com/ | title = Adafruit}} — Limor Fried's company. * {{Citation | contribution-url = http://download.2600.com/mediadownload/www.hopenumbersix.net/mp3/16/citizen_engineer.mp3 | contribution = Citizen Engineer talk — Consumer Electronics Hacking and Open Source Hardware | type = talk | title = HOPE Number Six | first1 = Limor 'ladyada' | last1 = Fried}} * {{Citation | contribution-url = http://download.2600.com/mediadownload/www.hopenumbersix.net/mp3/16/defensive_technology.mp3 | contribution = The Geeky, Personal, and Social Impact Sides of Creating Defensive Technology | type = talk | title = HOPE Number Six | author1-link = Mitch Altman | first1 = Mitch | last1 = Altman | first2 = Limor 'ladyada' | last2 = Fried}} * {{Citation | url = https://www.engadget.com/2009/12/02/the-engadget-show-kindle-etching-and-diy-adventures-with-adafru/ | title = Kindle etching and DIY adventures with Adafruit Industries | date = December 2, 2009 | publisher = Engadget | type = report}} on ladyada's work. * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtBpkSlC3Dg Adafruit Industries (Youtube)] -- Rocketboom report on ladyada's company * [https://magpi.raspberrypi.com/issues/9 The Mag Pi #9] – Raspberry Pi magazine features an interview with Limor Fried
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fried, Limor}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:American electrical engineers Category:MIT School of Engineering alumni Category:Open-source hardware people Category:American women company founders Category:American company founders Category:21st-century American women engineers Category:21st-century American engineers Category:21st-century American businesspeople Category:21st-century American businesswomen Category:American women electrical engineers