>> Announcer: Live from Boston, Massachusetts, it's theCUBE covering Red Hat Summit 2019. Brought to you by Red Hat. >> Welcome back to our coverage here on theCUBE of Red Hat Summit 2019. We're live in Boston right now, and I'm joined by a couple of award winning professionals. And we're looking forward to hearing what their story is because it's fascinating on both fronts. And also by DeLisa Alexander who has a great job title at Red Hat. Chief People Officer. I love that title. DeLisa, thanks for joining us. >> Thanks for having us. >> Also with us, Limor Fried who is the and founder and lead engineer of Adafruit and Saloni Garg who is an undgergrad student, third year student, at the LNM Institute of Technology. And that's in Jaipur, India. So Saloni, glad to have you with us. And Limor, a pleasure as well. >> Thank you. >> And you're all lit up. You've got things going on there, right? >> I'm glowing, we're gonna get all into that. >> We'll get into that later. First, let's talk about the award that, they're two women in open-source are our winners this year. On the community side, Limor won, on the academic side, Saloni won, so talk about the awards if you would, DeLisa. The process and really what you're trying to do with recognizing these kinds of achievements. >> Well, this is our fifth year for the Women in Open-Source Award. So after this period of time, I can tell you what we wanna do is make an impact by really fostering more diverse communities, particularly gender diverse in open-source. And so that's the whole goal. Five years into it, what we've discovered is that when you really focus on diversity and inclusion within a community, you actually can make an impact. And the thing that's so exciting this year is that our award winners are really evidence of that. >> So talk about the two categories then if you would please. You have community on one side, academics on the other. It appears to be pretty clear cut what you're hoping to achieve there by recognizing an active contributor, and then somebody who is in the wings and waiting for their moment. But go ahead and fill in a little bit about, >> Yeah, absolutely. >> Limor and Saloni too about, why are they here. >> Limor: Why am I here? >> Yes, well, really what we're trying to do is create role models for women and girls who would like to participate in technology but perhaps are not sure that that's the way that they can go. And they don't see people that are like them, so there's less a tendency to join into this type of community. So with the community award winner, we're looking at the professional who's been contributing to open-source for a period of time. And with our academic winner, we're looking to score more people who are in university to think about it. And, of course, the big idea is you'll all be looking at these women as people that will inspire you to potentially do more things with open-source and more things with technology. We've been hearing for many, many years that we definitely need to have more gender diversity in tech in general and in open-source. And Red Hat is kind of uniquely situated to focus on the open-source community, and so with our role as the open-source leader, we really feel like we need to make that commitment and to be able to foster that. >> Well, it makes perfect sense. Obviously. Great perfect sense. Saloni, if you would, let's talk first about your work. You've been involved in open-source for quite some time. I know you have a lot of really interesting projects that you're working on right now. We'll get to that in a bit, but just talk about, I guess, the attraction for you in terms of open-source and really kind of where that came from originally through your interest in stem education. >> Okay, so when I first came to college, I was really influenced to contribute to open-source by my seniors. They have already selected in programs like Google Summer of Code Outreach channel, so they actually felt empowered by open-source. So they encouraged me to join it too. I tried open-source, and I feel really, like, I'm a part of something bigger than myself. And I was helped greatly by my seniors, so I feel it's my duty to give it back to my juniors and to help them when they need it so that they can do wonders, yeah. >> Great. And Limor, for you, I know you founded the company. 100% female owned. You've got-- >> Yeah, 100% me. >> Yeah, right. 100% you. >> It's my fault. >> Right. Well, I wasn't going to blame you. I'll credit you instead. >> Yeah, that's our big thing. We wanna change. Get blame to get credit. >> Right. It's all about credit. >> More positive. >> So 100 employees? Is that right? >> 100, 150, yep. >> Okay, talk a little bit about kind of the origin, the genesis of the company and where that came from and then your connection on the open-source side. >> Well, I, yeah, so I grew up actually in Boston. So I've lived here a very long time. >> You said like a block from here. Two blocks. >> I used to live, actually, yes, in South Station nearby. I used to live by the Griffin Book line, and so Wilson has a very strong open-source community, you know. Ephesoft is here. And, yeah, that's kind of the origins of a lot of this free software and open-source software community. And when I went to school, I ended up going to MIT, and the open-source software and open-source technology is kind of part of, like, the genetics there. There's actually this thinking that you wouldn't do it. It's kind of by default. People write code, you open-source, you release it. There's a culture of collaboration. Scientists, engineers, students, researchers. All working together and sharing code. And when I was in school, so I had to take Thesis. I really didn't wanna do it, and so instead, I started building, like, MP3 players and video games. Taking all the engineering that I was studying and, like, not doing the work I was supposed to be doing. But instead, I was having fun and building cool electronic parts, and I would publish these projects online. I had, like, a MediaLab webs page, and I would publish, you know, here's all the chips and the schematics and the layout. And people sort of started coming up with the idea of open-source hardware. Let's take the philosophy of open-source software where we release the source code. But, in here, you release CAD files, firmware, layouts, 3D models. And so I did that, and I was publishing here's how you make this, like, Lite-Brite toy for Burning Man or an MP3 player or a cell phone jammer. All these fun projects, and people would end up contacting me and saying, hey, these are really cool projects. I would like to build this project myself, but unlike software where you just, like, type in, like, make, config, and compile and all that. You actually have to buy parts, you have to get these physical things. And so they said, you know, could you sell me a kit, like a box, where we'd get it and take it home and be able to build it. And I was totally like, no, I'm busy. I have to, like, not write this thesis. >> That's not what I do. >> But eventually, I did write the thesis. And then I was really stuck because I'm like, now what do I do? So I ended up selling kits. So I sold the synthesizer kits and such, and I did an art fellowship and stuff. And then, eventually, I was kind of like, this is, I was doing, you know, it's, you kind of fall into business by accident because if you knew what you were getting into, you wouldn't do it in my opinion. So I ended up sort of developing that, and that was 13 years ago. And now we have 4,000 products in the store, you know. >> 4,000 products? >> Yeah, I know. Ridiculous, right? That's a lot. >> Yeah, who's doing that inventory, right? >> Well, we have a pretty intense inventory system that I'd love to talk to you about, but it's kind of boring. >> I'll bet you do. Now, I was reading something about an circuit playground express. >> Yes. >> Is that right? So is that what this is all about is-- >> Yes! I knew you'd ask, and that's why I wore this. >> So it's a, kind of, an exploratory circuit board of-- >> Yeah! It's open-source, open-source hardware, open-source software and firmware. And we had a lot of parents and teachers and educators and camp counselors come to us and say, we wanna teach physical computing. We wanna teach coding but with physical hardware because, you know, we all, all the tier coders, right? No, I don't know. But, eventually, you're like, I'm typing on the screen. And you want to take that and you wanna make it physical. You wanna bring it out into the world where there's a wearable or a cosplay or assistive technology, or you wanna make video games, that are, like, physical video games. And the problem that teachers had were the classrooms, a lot of these classrooms, they don't have a lot of money. So they said it has to be very low-cost. It has to be durable because these kids are, like, chewing on it and stuff, which is fun. And it also has to work on any computer, even extremely old computers. 'Cause a lot of these schools, they only have a budget every seven years to buy laptops. And so this actually becomes a very difficult technological problem. How do you design something that's $20 but can teach physical computing to anybody? From kids who are not even good at typing all the way to college students who wanna implement fast 48 transforms, and so we designed this hardware. It's open-source, and it's cool 'cause people are, like, remixing it and making improvements to it. It's open-source circuit playground, and I'm wearing it. And it's glowing, and I don't know. It's fun! It's got LEDs and sensors. And you can just alligator clip to it and make projects, and we've got schools from around the world learning how to code. And I think it's a much more fun experience than just typing at a computer. >> Absolutely. Yeah, Solani, on your side of the fence, so I obviously, in your education years if you will, not that we ever stop learning, but formally right now. But you're involved, among the many projects that you've been involved with, a smart vehicle. >> Yeah, I'm working on it. >> Project, right? So tell us a little bit about that and how open-source has come into play with what you're looking at in terms of, I assume, traffic and congestion and flows and those kinds of things. >> Yeah. So what we're working on is, basically, we'll be fitting cameras and Raspberry Pis on buses, college buses. And then they'll detect, like, they'll detect lane detection and traffic signal violation and will report the assigned people. If there's any breakage of law or any breakage of traffic signals, so that's what, basically, we are working on and how open-source comes into the play is that we actually knew nothing about OpenCV and all the technology that is before all this. So I looked up some open-source projects that had already the lump sum of all this, and I got to learn a lot about how things actually work on the code-based side. So that's how open-source actually helped me to make this project. >> And, ultimately, who do you report to on that? Or how is that data gonna become actionable or, I assume it can be. >> Yeah. >> At some point, right? I mean, who's your partner in that? Or who is the agency or the body that, you know, can most benefit from that? >> Yeah, so, currently, this is an academy project, and a classmate of mine has been working with me. And we are working on a faculty member. And so, basically, we have decided to expand this project and to use it as a government project. And we, authorities we'll be reporting to whenever there's a signal or law breakage is that the traffic police department will be notifying them in case of any signal breakage. >> So if there's an uptick in speeding or red light running in Jaipur, we know who to blame. >> Yeah. >> Right? >> Shouldn't have run a report. >> It's, Solani, why'd you do that to them, right? All right, ladies, if you would. And I'm gonna end with DeLisa, but I'd like to hear your thoughts about each other. Just about, as you look at the role of women in tech and the diversity that Red Hat is trying to encourage, Limor, what have you seen in Solani here over the last day, day and a half, that maybe you think will leave a lasting impression on you? >> I love Solani's energy and her passion, and I can just, she's has this emanated strength. I can just tell that nothing stops her from achieving what she wants. Like, she wants to, like, do this Raspberry Pi traffic camera. She's just gonna figure out what it takes to solve that problem. She's gonna use open-source software, hardware, whatever it takes. And she's just gonna achieve her goal. I totally sense that from her from the last few days we've been together. >> That's great. >> Thank you. >> Yeah! >> All right. Solani, your turn. For Limor. >> What I have done is just a fraction of what she has been doing. She's, like, inspiration. I look up to her, and I, also, I mean, I hope I start my own company someday. And she's really a role model and an inspiration for me. So yeah. >> Yeah, I think you've got a pretty good mentor there in that respect. And then, DeLisa, when you see young ladies like this who are, you know, their achievements are so impressive in their respects. What does that say to you about Red Hat, the direction of the program, and then the impact on young women that you're having? >> Well, the program has gotten so much more participation. So many people, 8,000 people actually voted to select our winners. And all of our finalists were so impressive. We have major contributors to open-source, and so, along with our finalists, our winners are people who are just role models. And I am just so impressed with them, and I think that every year, we're learning something different from each of the winners. And so, as they round down into a community, the things that they'll be able to mentor people on will just be exponentially increasing. And so it's really exciting. >> Fantastic. Well, thank you all. The three of you, the ladies. Congratulations on your recognition, your accomplishments. Well done. Safe travels back to New York and back to India as well, and I would look forward to hearing more about what you're up to down the road. I think this is not the last we're gonna hear from the two of you. >> Thank you for having us. >> And thank you for calling me a young lady. >> Absolutely. I mean, look at the source. Open-source, you might say. That was awful. All right, back with more Red Hat Summit 2019. We're live here on theCUBE in Boston. (gentle music)