I am a freelance engineer and open hardware advocate. I have significant experience in the development of precision scientific instrumentation. I have worked on a range on instrumentation from the worlds most precise balance for measuring milligram level masses, to automated scanning probe microscopes that can see individual atoms. One of my core projects is the OpenFlexure Microscope which is increasing access to laboratory-grade robotic microscopes across the world. The microscope has been made or used in over 40 countries (and on every continent!), and is poised to become the first in vitro diagnostic device to be produced in Tanzania after undergoing trials for malaria diagnosis.

I completed my PhD in Physics in 2014 at the University of Nottingham. I have since worked for the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA), the University of Maryland, and the University of Bath. Throughout my time in academia I saw an incredible amount of time spent on reinventing the wheel. Academic hardware designs are often poorly documented, poorly shared, and rarely commercialised. I have become a prominent member of the open hardware community which is promoting the free and open exchange of the designs of hardware, this is particularly important in the case of scientific hardware as it protects scientists from vendor lock-in, and gives them the freedom to understand and improve their instruments.

I have developed software to automate many aspects of the creation of hardware assembly instructions, and have also developed one of the most sophisticated and automated open source workflows for hardware development. As part of my work on the OpenFlexure microscope I have also worked on understanding the business models for distributed manufacturing of open hardware.

I am available to work on projects ranging from the development, improvement, and uncertainty budget of precision instrumentation and experiments, through to developing documentation for hardware and bespoke tooling for automating aspects of hardware development. I am also available to help with community building for open source projects and open hardware communities.

For more details contact me at julian@julianstirling.co.uk