I’m Gert van den Berg. I live in the Netherlands, where I create the future.

I’ve been fascinated by technology for as long as I can remember, and wrote my first program when I was 7 years old, just a month after my dad brought home a brand new IBM ThinkPad. I learned to type on it and was soon diving into the world of BASIC programming.

The only thing I loved more than computers as a kid was building things. When I was 9, I constructed a 6-foot tall robot using old parts from our garage and an old radio for remote control. I spent hours programming it to perform simple tasks, like fetching small objects and navigating around obstacles.

I spent the next few years creating increasingly complex machines, culminating in a fully functional drone when I was 14. It took numerous attempts and countless hours of coding, but the first successful flight, which I recorded on my dad’s camcorder, was exhilarating. The drone could be controlled via a custom app I developed, and it even had a live video feed.

Today, I’m the founder of TechTinker, where we’re developing DIY robotics kits and software platforms for young engineers. Our goal is to inspire the next generation to explore the fascinating world of technology and engineering from their own homes, just as I did.