2-27-2023 4:02pm

Ring Founder and Shark Tank Veteran Jamie Siminoff Returns to Morristown Beard School

Ring Founder and Shark Tank Veteran Jamie Siminoff ('95) Explores AI-Enabled Art Installation and Experiential Learning Projects at his Alma Matter, Morristown-Beard School.

Morristown Beard School (MBS) Alumnus, Jamie Siminoff '95, the Chief Inventor and Founder of Ring, visited his alma mater earlier this month (Feb. 10, 2023), and witnessed some of the innovative experiential learning projects that are taking place at the school.

Siminoff, who gained fame as a Shark Tank veteran and entrepreneur, toured the Middle School's Center for Innovation & Design (CID) and learned about the sixth-grade sailboat project. He also had a hands-on demonstration of Science on a Sphere.*

Developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Science On a Sphere® is an educational tool that displays animated images of environmental processes such as atmospheric storms, climate change, and ocean temperature on a six-foot diameter sphere. MBS and Liberty Science Center are the only two institutions in New Jersey with Science On a Sphere®, and MBS is one of two secondary schools in the country to have it.

In Dr. Dennis Evangelista's classroom, Siminoff met with sophomores Kevin Chen '25, Nick Troiano '25, and Johannes Wabnitz-Moch '25, who presented their independent work done in the Math and Science Center and CID to develop an AI-enabled art installation. The design uses a Raspberry Pi and camera, mounted on the wall in a custom 3-D printed case, running OpenCV computer vision algorithms to identify people moving in the room. The information is then transferred to a second Raspberry Pi that controls an array of LEDs responding interactively to a person's presence.

Siminoff recalled how his passion for tinkering was ignited at MBS, particularly in Rich Timek's architecture class.

Siminoff stated, "That was incredible for me, the stuff that we did in Mr. Timek's architecture class." He added, "For the final project, we had to build a model, and that was one of my favorite things I've done."