MB Labs

MB Labs, a large live-work space located in Chicago's West Loop, focuses on producing creative and intelligently designed commercial products. The collaborative project was started by SAIC alumni Josh Billions (BFA 2012), David Hull (MFA 2012), and Harvey Moon (BFA 2012), with MIT Alum Bill Fineup (2005).

The small business is this year’s recipient of the national Red Bull Creation Challenge Prize in which groups compete to design and live-build a device limited to the materials given to them and a 72 hour deadline. MB Labs created Autoloop, a drum machine that lets users control a drum set via sensors that determine rhythm depending on where objects are placed on a separate device. This is just one project of many, both functionally innovative and playful, for which the group has acquired national attention. Taking on roles as artists, mechanics, and entrepreneurs, MB Labs brings together Chicago's most diverse community of professional and amateur makers and hackers.