Nicolás Méndez is a biotechnology-trained researcher based in Argentina, where he studied at the University of San Martín and is now pursuing a PhD in biology. His work sits somewhat outside the traditional academic path, combining research with hands-on development of open hardware tools. This unique orientation is situated in a set of values Nicolás cultivated through early exposure to Linux and open technological communities. “I want to live in the world in the way I think is best,” he explains, “being able to share without compromises, to ask without reservations.”
This philosophy proved critical in Nicolás’ adaptation to infrastructure constraints early in his student life. Finding it difficult to consistently secure access to needed equipment and materials, he set out to build his own. Ultimately finding his way to the GOSH community through the reGOSH Residencies, he nurtured both skills and relationships crucial for developing Open Lab Automata, a low-cost, modular robotic system designed to automate repetitive lab tasks such as pipetting and photography.
A key turning point in that process came through the GOSH Collaborative Development Program (CDP), a microgrants program that provided small, targeted funding to help teams build, test, and share open hardware. Nicolás reflects that the CDP “was a really amazing opportunity to be able to acquire my own funding for my own ideas,” explaining that biotech students are rarely granted the funds needed to pursue their own work. While the grant itself was modest, it gave Nicolás something vital – the opportunity to get started and build incrementally. It also served as validation, as “a way to validate that my efforts and my ideas… were worth it.”
While providing the financial boost needed to get Nicolás’ work was critical to his success, GOSH played an additional and equally as important role by supporting connection to and across the community. It was through the GOSH Forum that Nicolás initially began interacting with GOSH, and he described the Forum as doing two “very important” things: connecting him to the CDP and connecting him to collaborators he continues to work and innovate with to this day.
These connections helped extend the project beyond its initial scope, leading to additional funding, more advanced development, and the ability to produce and distribute kits for others to use.
What this demonstrates is the value of a well-integrated support system: in Nicolás’ case, a small grant made it possible to build a prototype, that prototype made it possible to secure further funding and collaboration, and those collaborations made it possible to develop a more robust system and begin testing it beyond his own lab. As GOSH marks its 10th anniversary, Nicolás’ trajectory illustrates the kind of outcomes made possible through GOSH’s support of early-stage ideas and the critical role of connection in carrying them forward.
