Nikitaa Sivaakumar
Founder-Director , Wonder Yonder Research and Design Pvt Ltd.
Nikitaa has a background in engineering and the arts. She has a B.Tech in Civil Engineering from NIT Trichy, India and an MFA in Design from University of California Davis, USA. She is also the recipient of prestigious awards and scholarships such as DAAD (Germany), OPJEMS (India), Blum Grant (USA), Big Ideas Grant (USA), Innovator in Residence Fellowship, and SELCO Foundation (India).
Nikita has over 6 years of experience working with children across ages 3-18 years and has created STEM workshop content, learning aids, curriculum content, interactive STEM exhibits, STEM based toys, games and storybooks. Her goal is to make learning engaging and fun for children and adults alike. She has a penchant for science and aims at making it accessible to everyone through visual narratives and storytelling.
Sessions
Workshop 4: Illustrate to Educate: Simplifying Science through Art and Storytelling
This workshop will focus on creating a Wonder Yonder style narrative illustration to explain a chosen scientific phenomenon/ concept to a general audience. We will focus on creating a series of vibrant drawings consisting of a foreground object and a background pattern coupled with a one/two-line explainer sentence. We will also look into creating whimsical compositions using text and drawings in every panel/page for sustaining the interest and effectiveness of science communication. We will demonstrate techniques to create simple GIFs and animations to convey an idea. For example: Visualise our world in 4D and String theory explained.