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# Jay Margalus

Game designer, hardware maker, and Johnson Professor of Entrepreneurship at Washington and Lee University. Essays on teaching and making.

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://jaymargalus.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Blog 1](https://jaymargalus.com/blog/)
- [RAGBRAI Postscript 2: Clean Slate](https://jaymargalus.com/ragbrai-postscript-2-clean-slate/) - The last day at Starved Rock, and the last post of the series: a planning day with tea and the Full Focus Planner, St. Louis Canyon with kids who've outgrown the trail, grandparents at the lodge, and the yearly ritual of wiping the slate clean before the drive home to Virginia.
- [RAGBRAI Postscript: Starved Rock](https://jaymargalus.com/ragbrai-postscript-starved-rock/) - Day fourteen of the RAGBRAI log: the anti-RAGBRAI day — sleeping in at Starved Rock, Sid Meier's memoir, Marc's first buffet, St. Louis Canyon, a round of "pass Marc" in the pool, an SXSW EDU submission, and a birthday drink with Sarah.
- [RAGBRAI Day 7: The Finale](https://jaymargalus.com/ragbrai-day-7-the-finale/) - Day thirteen of the RAGBRAI log: the last 34 miles into Dubuque — a misty solo roll to the start, batting practice at the Field of Dreams, one final Beekman's rescue by Jeremy's ears, the Mississippi, and then Field of Dreams again that night with the kids at Starved Rock.
- [RAGBRAI Day 6: The Girls' First RAGBRAI](https://jaymargalus.com/ragbrai-day-6-the-girls-first-ragbrai/) - Day twelve of the RAGBRAI log: both girls ride their first RAGBRAI — Elizabeth to the meeting town, Maura to the finish — plus Iowa's smallest cow, a regrettable Red Bull, a soft landing in a ditch, and a derailleur that didn't survive the gravel.
- [RAGBRAI Day 5: Century Day](https://jaymargalus.com/ragbrai-day-5-century-day/) - Day eleven of the RAGBRAI log: 102 miles on a written game plan and a cranky knee — two Casey's stops, a perfect pace line, Beekman's at mile 55, the century patch, and a finish over the Wapsipinicon into Independence.
- [Monday musing on electric outlets - 1/30/23](https://jaymargalus.com/monday-musing-on-electric-outlets/) - Riffing on a Hackaday history of the electrical outlet: flat plug blades were cheaper to stamp, and arbitrary design calls like that outlive their reasons.
- [Hardware Affordances Talk - Teardown 2024](https://jaymargalus.com/hardware-affordances-talk-teardown-2024/) - Video of my talk at Crowd Supply's Teardown 2024 — hardware affordances and what game design taught me about building physical hardware.
- [Monday Musing on Extinction of Experience - 3/27/23](https://jaymargalus.com/monday-musing-on-extinction-of-experience-3-27-23/) - Ecologists call our disconnect from nature the extinction of experience. I think the same thing is happening to making — and it feeds consumer culture.
- [Monday Musing on Making Makerspaces - 3/6/23](https://jaymargalus.com/monday-musing-on-making-makerspaces-3-6-23/) - Resources I keep handing to makerspace leaders: my Make article on problem making, Tim Ingold, Stanford's Make Space, ISAM whitepapers, and OOO reading.
- [Friday links and objects of interest - 2/3/23](https://jaymargalus.com/friday-links-and-objects-of-interest-2-3-23/) - My blueprint for innovation spaces, plus Drucker, solarpunk, civic imagination, the 2023 RAGBRAI route, Notsu to-do cards, and the Hero Clip.
- [Monday musing on design and understanding - 2/6/23](https://jaymargalus.com/monday-musing-on-design-and-understanding-2-6-23/) - Riffing on Tim Ingold's meandering line: why practical acts like designing, gardening, or fixing an engine end up feeling mystical.
- [Friday links and objects of interest - 3/3/23](https://jaymargalus.com/friday-links-and-objects-of-interest-3-3-23/) - Friday links: why I still read by RSS, Darius Kazemi's lottery talk, Stern's Foo Fighters pinball, Arduino's dual-sketch board, and a few AI tools.
- [Friday links and objects of interest - 1/27/23](https://jaymargalus.com/friday-links-to-objects-of-interest/) - This week's finds: By Hand & Eye and classical proportions, Wendell Berry, high-altitude balloons, RAGBRAI's 50th route reveal, and the Judas Pig.
- [Friday Links and Objects of Interest - 2/10/23](https://jaymargalus.com/friday-links-and-objects-of-interest-2-10-23/) - This week: Snoop Dogg retweeted me, my parents' Popular Mechanics DIY encyclopedias, the Buena Vista shibboleth, Dall-E for idea refinement, and a comet.
- [Friday links and objects of interest - 3/10/23](https://jaymargalus.com/friday-links-and-objects-of-interest-3-10-23/) - This week's links: Paul Graham on maker schedules, Tolkien's One Ring, the first Ferris wheel, new Playdate games, and a solar-powered web server.
- [Friday links and objects of interest - 3/17/23](https://jaymargalus.com/friday-links-and-objects-of-interest-3-17-23/) - Friday links: Flowboard for Arduino, Dwarf Fortress's Steam redesign, Chomsky on AI, the NBC-GM lawsuit, and why the Atari news feels like ColecoVision.
- [Friday links and objects of interest – 3/24/23](https://jaymargalus.com/friday-links-and-objects-of-interest-3-24-23/) - This week: SodaStream tricks for keeping greens fresh, indie game contract pitfalls, Austin Kleon on journaling, and the FTC's click-to-cancel plan.
- [Friday Links and Objects of Interest – 2/24/23](https://jaymargalus.com/friday-links-and-objects-of-interest-2-24-23/) - This week's roundup: object-oriented ontology, asking books questions with ChatGPT, prompt engineering, writing riffs, and Feynman's Six Easy Pieces.
- [Friday Links and Objects of Interest – 2/17/23](https://jaymargalus.com/friday-links-and-objects-of-interest-2-17-23/) - This week's grab bag: the shot-down HAM radio balloon, a student's Steam game, ChatGPT eating corporate secrets, Buzzy's Figma no-code tool, and Field Notes.
- [Friday links and objects of interest - 5/12/23](https://jaymargalus.com/friday-links-and-objects-of-interest-5-12-23/) - Catching up after selling the house: AI as the new McKinsey, Wendy's drive-thru bots, a CO2-eating microbe, carbon capture, and next-level 3D printing.
- [RAGBRAI T-Minus 2: Are We There Yet?](https://jaymargalus.com/ragbrai-t-minus-2-are-we-there-yet/) - Part four of the RAGBRAI 2026 road log: KOA campgrounds are like Chili's — sufficient. Buckeye Lake to Starved Rock on the long drive toward Iowa.
- [Friday Links and Objects of Interest - 7/12/24](https://jaymargalus.com/friday-links-and-objects-of-interest-7-12-24/) - What I picked up at Crowdsupply's Teardown: millimeter-accurate RTK GPS, Arduboy for teaching kids to build games, and faster e-ink from Inkplate and Modos.
- [Weekly Notes — November 17, 2025](https://jaymargalus.com/weekly-notes-november-17-2025/) - Weekly notes: playing with Jetstream2, a StumbleUpon-style button for Bowser, retuning ourss digests, Doctorow on gig work, and a Cardano badge idea.
- [RAGBRAI Day 0: We Made It](https://jaymargalus.com/ragbrai-day-0-we-made-it/) - Part six of the RAGBRAI 2026 log: we made it to Iowa. Meeting other rider groups at the campground and staging for day one of the ride.
- [RAGBRAI T-Minus 1: Iowa](https://jaymargalus.com/ragbrai-t-minus-1-iowa/) - Part five of the RAGBRAI 2026 road log: a slow morning and earl grey at Starved Rock, then the last leg of the drive into Iowa for the ride.
- [RAGBRAI Day 4: One and a Half Legs to Marshalltown](https://jaymargalus.com/ragbrai-day-4-one-and-a-half-legs-to-marshalltown/) - RAGBRAI 2026 day four: riding to Marshalltown on one and a half good legs after my knee started acting up halfway through yesterday.
- [RAGBRAI T-Minus 3: On The Road](https://jaymargalus.com/ragbrai-t-minus-3-on-the-road/) - Part three of the RAGBRAI 2026 road log: Lexington to Buckeye Lake, Ohio — day one of the drive west, with the new home server rack keeping watch.
- [RAGBRAI T-Minus 4: Cleaning Day](https://jaymargalus.com/ragbrai-t-minus-4-cleaning-day/) - Day two of the RAGBRAI 2026 log: mounting the Thule rooftop tent and carrier, cleaning the InTech trailer, and a note on Hannah Arendt before the drive to Iowa.
- [RAGBRAI T-Minus 5: Packing Day](https://jaymargalus.com/ragbrai-t-minus-5-packing-day/) - Packing for RAGBRAI 2026: prepping the trailer, tuning the bike, and towing our InTech camper from Virginia to Onawa, Iowa for the 391-mile ride.
- [RAGBRAI Day 2: Beat the Sun to Guthrie Center](https://jaymargalus.com/ragbrai-day-2-beat-the-sun-to-guthrie-center/) - RAGBRAI 2026 day two: up at 4:45am to beat the hottest day of the ride, racing the sun on the road to Guthrie Center.
- [RAGBRAI Day 1: Four Liters to Harlan](https://jaymargalus.com/ragbrai-day-1-four-liters-to-harlan/) - RAGBRAI 2026 day one: up at 5am and four liters of water on the road to Harlan — the first real miles of the ride, new loadout and all.
- [RAGBRAI Day 3: An $8 Root Beer to Boone](https://jaymargalus.com/ragbrai-day-3-an-8-dollar-root-beer-to-boone/) - RAGBRAI 2026 day three: a stormy night with the boys in the trailer, a 5am start, and an $8 root beer on the way to Boone.
- [The Harness, Not the Agent](https://jaymargalus.com/the-harness-not-the-agent/) - Eaton worries agentic AI cuts the friction learning needs. I think it just moved — into the hooks, memory, and evaluator around the agent. Teach the harness.
- [Five Favorite Bike Rides in Rockbridge County](https://jaymargalus.com/five-favorite-bike-rides-in-rockbridge-county/) - My five go-to bike rides in Rockbridge County — Glasgow, Big Hill, Plank Road, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and Goshen Pass — and why I keep riding each one.
- [Weekly Notes — 2025-11-10](https://jaymargalus.com/weekly-notes-2025-11-10/) - This week: Doctorow on encryption and Meta's fraud files, a USB-C Arduboy, privacy as policy not math, and why I push students toward craft.
- [ourss - An Opinionated RSS Reader](https://jaymargalus.com/ourss-an-opinionated-rss-reader/) - I spent nine days building ourss, an RSS reader for the weird web: human-scale instances, friends trading links, and a daily digest of what you actually read.
- [OmniFocus Google Chrome Plugin](https://jaymargalus.com/omnifocus-google-chrome-plugin/) - I've used OmniFocus for a decade, so when its Chrome plugin went belly up I built my own. It's free to download, use, and remix on GitHub.
- [AI Meets Atoms - A Hardware Reality Check](https://jaymargalus.com/ai-meets-atoms-a-hardware-reality-check/) - Hands-on pros keep pushing back on AI-eats-the-physical-world hype. After two decades in hardware, I get it: atoms move at the cadence of freight, not fiber.
- [TSW* S1E6 - Wendy Bolger - Loyola University Maryland](https://jaymargalus.com/tsw-s1e6-wendy-bolger-loyola-university-maryland/) - I talk with Wendy Bolger about building Loyola Maryland's Simon Center from scratch — intrapreneurship, skeptical liberal arts faculty, and mentorship.
- [The Power of Figma in Entrepreneurship Education](https://jaymargalus.com/the-power-of-figma-in-entrepreneurship-education/) - Figma is the one tool my entrepreneurship students need — it carries an idea from butterfly-test brainstorming through wireframes to working prototypes.
- [TSW* Podcast ep. with Ellen Schmidt-Devlin](https://jaymargalus.com/tsw-podcast-ep-with-ellen-schmidt-devlin/) - I talked with Ellen Schmidt-Devlin on TSW* — her 27 years at Nike with Bill Bowerman, Oregon's Sports Product Management program, and We Grew Wings.
- [Old Plank Trail 2024](https://jaymargalus.com/old-plank-trail-2024/) - The last of my cycling videos for a while: a 2024 ride along the Old Plank Trail in Illinois, an old favorite of mine. Full video embedded.
- [RAGBRAI 2024 Videos](https://jaymargalus.com/ragbrai-2024-videos/) - GoPro footage from RAGBRAI 2024: ride videos recorded from my bike across Iowa, minus the days I forgot to turn the camera on.
- [Riding in Illinois - 7/14/24 to 7/15/24](https://jaymargalus.com/riding-in-illinois-7-14-24-to-7-15-24/) - Back home in Illinois for two days of riding around town before RAGBRAI starts, testing out my new GoPro. Three videos of raw ride footage.
- [Meshtastic and a New Game Console](https://jaymargalus.com/meshtastic-and-a-new-game-console/) - My home Meshtastic repeater gets about half a mile without line of sight. Now I'm turning it into a game platform for ARGs, inspired by old pager games.
- [Against Nudge: Choice Architecture and Design](https://jaymargalus.com/against-nudge-choice-architecture-and-design/) - The piece I co-wrote against Nudge and choice architecture is finally out as a Writebook — on the unseen forces shaping our culture, phenomenology, and design.
- [Proximity or Distance: Which is best?](https://jaymargalus.com/proximity-or-distance-which-is-best/) - I moved my office two minutes from the center I run at W&L. Being close helps me move faster — but it also makes the big picture harder to see.
- [An Interview with Josh Tsui](https://jaymargalus.com/an-interview-with-josh-tsui/) - New TSW* episode: I interview Josh Tsui — Mortal Kombat and Tony Hawk vet, now DePaul's Director of Innovation — on building innovation spaces from scratch.
- [Hardware Happy Hour Flyer](https://jaymargalus.com/hardware-happy-hour-flyer/) - A printable flyer for Hardware Happy Hour: Lexington and the nonprofit makerspace we're getting off the ground in town. Grab the PDF and spread the word.
- [Rewilding and Innovation, pt. 1](https://jaymargalus.com/rewilding-and-innovation-pt-1/) - On a gaucho's farm in Chilean Patagonia, I found fence posts grown from live sycamore branches — a lesson in designing things that renew themselves.
- [Complex Systems and Conservation](https://jaymargalus.com/complex-systems-and-conservation/) - Wendell Berry's line about conservation — the guilty are always other people — got me thinking about the right distance for understanding complex systems.
- [Design Cards Application, pt. 1](https://jaymargalus.com/design-cards-application-pt-1/) - Inspired by Jesse Schell's design lenses, I turned my notebook of 200 design principles into a 52-card deck and started building it as a Next.js web app.
- [TSW* S1E1 - Jake Juracka](https://jaymargalus.com/tsw-s1e1-jake-juracka/) - I'm rebooting This Should Work* with a focus on innovation centers. First up: my former student Jake Juracka, now at The Garage at Northwestern.
- [From Game Design to Hardware Innovation](https://jaymargalus.com/from-game-design-to-hardware-innovation/) - My CrowdSupply Teardown 2024 talk: all objects have affordances, computers have unique ones — what if we picked hardware components that way?
- [How do you start believing (again)?](https://jaymargalus.com/how-do-you-start-believing-again/) - Belief needs trust and wonder, and both feel at an all-time low. Cynicism is easy but useless — optimism builds toward a future. Start by doing something.
- [Everything and nothing](https://jaymargalus.com/everything-and-nothing/) - You can say yes to everything—every job, every favor—and lose yourself doing it. Like a camera lens, limiting the light is what brings focus.
- [The Peace of Wild Things](https://jaymargalus.com/the-peace-of-wild-things/) - Wendell Berry's 'The Peace of Wild Things,' posted in full — the poem I turn to when despair for the world grows and I need still water.
- [Monday musing on the industrial substrate - 4/17/23](https://jaymargalus.com/monday-musing-on-the-industrial-substrate-4-17-23/) - We've been building on the industrial substrate for a century without questioning it. The cracks are multiplying — and that's where innovation starts.
- [Friday links and objects of interest - 4/14/23](https://jaymargalus.com/friday-links-and-objects-of-interest-4-14-23/) - This week: Daniel Suarez's Delta-V, the Mario theme joining the National Recording Registry, plants as carbon capture, chess, feral hogs, and dril.
- [Monday musing on games and alternatives - 4/10/23](https://jaymargalus.com/monday-musing-on-games-and-alternatives/) - Controllers, consoles, and screens are an arbitrary bottleneck on games. I've spent years building alternative platforms with open source hardware.
- [Friday links and objects of interest - 4/7/23](https://jaymargalus.com/friday-links-and-objects-of-interest-4-7-23/) - Friday links: nonprofits losing their souls, rainbows that are really circles, the Bitcoin whitepaper hidden in every Mac, and possums hunting pythons.
- [Monday musing on 808s and transistors - 2/20/23](https://jaymargalus.com/monday-musing-on-808s-and-transistors-2-20-23/) - The TR-808 got its signature sizzle from defective transistors bought in bulk — a story about how materials shape platforms and the music made on them.
- [Monday musing on innovation - 2/13/23](https://jaymargalus.com/monday-musing-on-innovation-2-13-23/) - Systems thinking isn't enough — you can't really question a system until you take it apart. Why making and tinkering beat 5% yearly improvement.
- [Monday musing on making and play - 2/27/23](https://jaymargalus.com/monday-musing-on-making-and-play-2-27-23/) - Making and play are both exploration — you speak through the material, the rules change as you go. To me, making is an activity of play.
- [Monday Musing on Artifice](https://jaymargalus.com/monday-musing-on-artifice/) - Every 'disruption' I can name rides on an existing industrial system. A short musing, with Bruce Sterling on tearing into artifice and rebuilding it.
- [Friday links and objects of interest – 3/31/23](https://jaymargalus.com/friday-links-and-objects-of-interest-3-31-23/) - Friday links: a TikTok data center shutting down ammo production in Norway, cloning yourself with AI, bicycle physics, and whether AI should write our laws.
- [Monday Musing on Insight - 3/20/23](https://jaymargalus.com/monday-musing-on-insight-3-20-23/) - A quote I keep coming back to: theoretical progress almost always needs a negative insight — spotting the accepted principle that's wrong and dropping it.
- [Monday Musing on the Sony Walkman - 3/13/23](https://jaymargalus.com/monday-musing-on-the-sony-walkman-3-13-23/) - The first Walkman almost didn't happen — Sony's own engineers doubted anyone would want a tape player that couldn't record. On unlearning in design.

## Pages

- [Home](https://jaymargalus.com/) - Jay Margalus: game designer, hardware maker, and Johnson Professor of Entrepreneurship at Washington and Lee University. Essays on teaching and making.
- [RAGBRAI 2026: The Complete Ride Log](https://jaymargalus.com/ragbrai-2026/) - The complete RAGBRAI 2026 ride log: driving from Virginia to Iowa, a week of riding across the state, and the trip home — updated daily.
- [Start Here](https://jaymargalus.com/start-here/) - Good doors into this site: essays on making and teaching, hardware and software builds, bike rides and ride logs, and the This Should Work podcast.
- [Now](https://jaymargalus.com/now/) - What Jay Margalus is doing right now: building Prospector, relaunching Delve Deeper on Steam, developing Fourfold hardware, and running the Daemon home server.
- [Colophon](https://jaymargalus.com/colophon/) - A colophon on the type, color, grid, and code behind this site: Inter Tight, Inter, and IBM Plex Mono, designed and built by Jay Margalus in Lexington, VA.
- [About](https://jaymargalus.com/about/) - Jay Margalus: video game and hardware designer, President of Fourfold Games, and Johnson Professor of Entrepreneurship at Washington and Lee University.
- [Work](https://jaymargalus.com/work/) - Jay Margalus's portfolio of shipped work: games, hardware, makerspaces, and entrepreneurship programs, from Delve Deeper on Steam to W&L's Connolly Center.
- [Writing + Speaking](https://jaymargalus.com/writing-speaking/) - Jay Margalus's podcast This Should Work*, plus a list of talks and writing on game design, hardware innovation, and entrepreneurship, from Crowd Supply to W&L.
- [Contact](https://jaymargalus.com/contact/) - Get in touch with Jay Margalus in Lexington, VA — game designer, hardware maker, and Johnson Professor of Entrepreneurship at Washington and Lee University.

## Portfolio Items

- [Hackerspaces in Space](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/hackerspaces-in-space/) - Program Development This was a global event I conceived of after seeing a news article about college students who tracked a near-space balloon using a cell phone. Hackerspaces from around the world sent up balloons and measured various information which was used to judge their balloon launch. The event received press in MAKE Magazine, Evadot,
- [Mobile Microscope](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/mobile-microscope/) - Object Development At the behest of a team of oncologists at University of Chicago, I directed my student industrial design consulting team in the fabrication and re-design (in progress) of a sub-$200 microscope. In addition to conducting the design research and development phases of the project, my role has included managing a small team of
- [Hacker Badge 2021](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/hacker-badge-2021/) - Game Development This badge was done in collaboration with a student consulting group that I direct, as well as my friends Rudy Ristich and Rob Rehrer. As with previous iterations, we began by consulting the individuals who direct the event, then quickly moving from their vision for a conference into a badge design that played
- [Illinois PPE](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/illinois-ppe/) - Object Development Starting at DePaul, I led a group that collaborated with a network of individuals from various universities, libraries, and other institutions around Illinois to address the immediate, critical need for personal protective equipment (PPE) in Illinois. Within our network, we produced over 100,000 face shields primarily for doctors, nurses, and first responders from
- [Southland Maker Faire](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/southland-maker-faire/) - Game Development Southland Maker Faire was an event that I created and directed for nearly five years. Hosted in the Pipefitters Training Center out of Mokena, IL, the event regularly brought in over 1,000 attendees and around 30 exhibitors every year. In addition to running the event, recruiting exhibitors, and managing the advertisement of the
- [Idea Realization Lab 2](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/idea-realization-lab-2/) - Makerspace Development Following the success of the Idea Realization Lab 1, I was asked by DePaul to build a second makerspace on our Lincoln Park campus. As with IRL1, I developed the CAD design for the space, operational budget, and directed the furniture selection, tool selection, and hiring for the space. I also developed a
- [Hacker Badge 2019](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/hacker-badge-2019/) - Game Development This badge was done in collaboration with a student consulting group that I direct, as well as my friend Rudy Ristich. As with previous iterations, we began by consulting the individuals who direct the event, then quickly moving from their vision for a conference into a badge design that played on the year's
- [Hacker Badge 2018](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/hacker-badge-2018/) - Game Development This badge was done in collaboration with a student consulting group that I direct, as well as my friend Rudy Ristich. The driving design concept behind this badge was a play on another collaborative game (then popular) called Twitch Plays Pokemon which had thousands of players vying for control of the popular Ash
- [Certificate in Making](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/certificate-in-making/) - Program Development I developed a partnership with the engineers and managers on Caterpillar's Peoria facilities to teach them rapid prototyping practices, design thinking, and developing objects for the Internet of Things. In addition to developing the relationship, I wrote the curriculum for the program and taught it. Groups spent about 16 weeks learning the basics,
- [Idea Realization Lab 1](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/idea-realization-lab-1/) - Makerspace Development I was tapped by college administration in 2017 to build a makerspace based on my experience with Spacelab and Workshop 88. To that end, I developed the design for a nearly 5,000 square foot space, including procurement of furniture, tools, and consumables. Along with the IRL2 I hire and manage nearly 20 student
- [Hacker Badge 2017](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/hacker-badge-2017/) - Game Development This badge was done in collaboration with a student consulting group that I direct, as well as my friends Rudy Ristich and Nathan Matteson, and was my first work for the Thotcon hacker conference. The game design for the badge was influenced by classic roguelike games, chess/checkerboard themes, and a broader concept of
- [Spacelab](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/spacelab/) - Makerspace Development Spacelab makerspace has provided access to digital fabrication technology, classes, and making opportunities like Makerfests for the last 10 years. Classes and events at the makerspace are hosted by educators and/or professionals in their domain, while members do all kinds of making: 3D printing, photography, sewing, crafting with a vinyl cutter (Cricut). Spacelab
- [Project Libity](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/project-libity/) - Game Development Project Libity was a collaborative controller developed on Arduino Leonardo that enabled up to four players to control the same character on any computer-driven video game. The platform explored game designer intent and agency by subverting the game experience and turning it into one of frustration -- often to comedic effect. In addition
- [Gratis Grottos](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/delve-deeper-gratis-grottos/) - Game Development After the successful sale of Delve Deeper and Treasures & Tunnels, I had an insight about game sales on Steam. Namely, producing DLC was a primary driver of base game unit sales. As a result of this insight, I developed a website that facilitated a competition for Delve Deeper fans to contribute their
- [Treasures & Tunnels](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/delve-deeper-treasures-and-tunnels/) - Game Development After the successful sale of Delve Deeper, Lunar Giant set out to release downloadable content (DLC) to expand the game's offerings. Treasures & Tunnels was our first DLC pack for the game, and in addition to selling incredibly well, also boosted the sales of the game itself. This insight eventually led to the
- [Workshop 88](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/workshop-88/) - Makerspace Development This was the first makerspace that I co-founded, and currently operates out of Glen Ellyn, Illinois. Founded in 2009, makerspaces were an extremely new concept at the time -- as a result, Workshop 88 has played a part in defining what a makerspace looks like. In addition to running events in the early
- [Big Data Outbreak](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/big-data-outbreak/) - Game & Object Development This project was a cross between hardware development/design, game design, and embodied interaction. Developed for the company MapR (acquired by HP), I worked with members of the makerspace I co-founded -- Workshop 88 -- to create an interactive experience that would take place during the conference Big Data Everywhere. Attendees wore
- [1K Makerspace](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/1k-makerspace/) - Program Development The 1K Makerspace project was borne out of my work at Illinois PPE that explored a distributed fabrication model. In a continued exploration of what localized manufacturing could look like after the worst of the pandemic, I crowdfunded -- and subsequently received corporate backing for -- a project to install makerspaces in underserved
- [Rewilding in Patagonia](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/rewilding-in-patagonia/) - Study Abroad Trip My former colleague Heather Snyder-Quinn and I conceived this trip in 2020. Rewilding in Patagonia brought DePaul students to remote areas in southern Chile undergoing natural restoration through the removal of dams, fences, and reintroduction of plants and wildlife. Witnessing the effects of climate change and environmental destruction through extractive practices, students
- [Delve Deeper](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/delve-deeper/) - Game Development Delve Deeper is the first installation of a video game that's sold on Steam, Humble, and various other outlets. Lunar Giant was a game company that I was a part of and, ultimately, ended up running for a little over five years. When I joined the team, Delve Deeper was nearly complete, but
- [BFA Industrial Design](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/bfa-industrial-design/) - Program Development I wrote the BFA Industrial Design program with my colleagues Nathan Matteson, Eric Landahl, and Theresa Steinbach. The program launched in 2021, and currently has approximately 30 enrolled students. In addition to traditional industrial design practices, students are exposed to embedded systems design, as well as game, toy, and instrument design. In total,
- [Mega Ran: The Game](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/mega-ran-the-game/) - Game Development This video game was a collaboration with the rapper Raheem Jarbo (AKA Mega Ran) for an album release/Kickstarter project. Developed in Impact.js at my game company, Lunar Giant, we conceived the game, designed, and programmed it all in three months. My work on the game included programming, game engine modification, and game and
- [NASA Space Grant — Eclipse Ballooning & Makerspaces](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/nasa-space-grant-eclipse-ballooning-makerspaces/) - Co-PI on a NASA-funded project, Total Solar Eclipse 2024: Engaging Undergraduate Students at DePaul University through High-Altitude Ballooning and Makerspaces ($20,000). The work connected near-space payload design with makerspace pedagogy to give students a rigorous, build-driven pathway into aerospace instrumentation, flight readiness, and field operations for the April 8, 2024 eclipse.
- [ourss — An Opinionated RSS Reader](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/ourss-an-opinionated-rss-reader/) - A privacy-respecting reader that centers curation and calm workflows over engagement hacks. ourss emphasizes: pick your sources; read in batches; optionally share a digest with your team/class/community. It's tooling for inquiry and reflection, not infinite scroll.
- [Entrepreneurship & Design @ W&L — Program Build-Out](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/entrepreneurship-design-wl-program-build-out/) - As Johnson Professor and director of the Connolly Center, I'm building an experiential, design-forward entrepreneurship pathway: the Entrepreneurship (now Entrepreneurship & Design) minor, the student-run Connolly Entrepreneurship Society, the Entrepreneur-in-Residence program, recurring pitch/video competitions, and an annual Entrepreneurship Summit that connects students with alumni and operators.
- [THOTCON 0xD Badge — Connected Game Hardware](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/thotcon-0xd-badge-connected-game-hardware/) - Lead on the THOTCON 0xD electronic badge: custom game hardware with a capacitive touch wheel, LCD, and real-time networking—designed, built, and shipped.
- [VIVA Open Adopt Grant — Makers’ Workshop OER (2025)](https://jaymargalus.com/portfolio/viva-open-adopt-grant-makers-workshop-oer-2025/) - An Open Education Conversion project. PI on a VIVA Open Adopt Grant ($2,000) to adopt and assemble OER for Makers’ Workshop at Washington & Lee, cutting student cost to $0 while preserving high-fidelity, hands-on learning in both digital and physical prototyping. Deliverables include openly licensed slides, handouts, and tutorials published to the VIVA hub. 

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## Categories

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## Tags

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