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MakerSpaces are relatively unknown in the United States, compared to the presence they have in other parts of the world We expect to meet a lot of people along our 2017-18 FIRST journey who are going to ask us 'What's a MakerSpace?' We hope to create more awareness for MakerSpaces in the U.S. This page provides a primer on MakerSpaces.
Loosely, a MakerSpace is a place for Makers to congregate and collaborate. A MakerSpace provides:
- Space - to Make, to Learn, to Think
- Tools - hand tools, and big tools like laser cutters, CNC, sewing, welding, 3D printers (things an individual could not afford alone)
- Makers - people who know a lot and like to share their knowledge on an endless variety of topics (really endless)
MakerSpaces are volunteer bootstrapped and volunteer supported operations. They can be small or large and the mission varies based on the members in each location. They don't have advertising budgets, glitzy websites or big signs on the building. Therefore, you might not notice them. They operate on the energy of the members. MakerSpaces normally have events that are free to attend - classes, workshops or casual meetups. At advanced participation levels, membership fees would reflect the type of access afforded to the member.
MakerSpaces are a bit hard to describe - you really have to be in one to understand the awesome experience. But we'll try to give you a perspective of our experience with the Nova Labs MakerSpace in Reston, Virginia and how our FTC team is integrating as part of the space. Nova Labs, like many MakerSpaces, is primarily run by volunteers (just like FIRST).
Scroll down to meet some of the 'Makers' at Nova Labs that are a part of our 'Virtual Mentor Network.' We call them our Maker Mentors. They inspire us by way of the MakerSpace connection throughout the entire year - not just during FTC season. They give us feedback on our ideas and offer guidance on ideas to consider based on their knowledge and experience.
Our 'Maker Mentors'
Our 'Maker Mentors'
Paul Chase - 3D Printing, Laser Cutter and CAD. Paul leads the 3D Printing group at Nova Labs. He has been an awesome mentor to us, not only on 3D Printers. He has taught us how to diagnose problems, how to troubleshoot efficiently and be critical thinkers. He knows everything, but he's more likely to teach you how to solve a problem than solve it for you. He is super supportive of youth. We've known Paul since 2014 when we built our first 3D Printer as attendees of the Monday 3D Printer meetings. He also helps us learn the art and science of Laser Cutting on industrial CO2 machines (that's cool). We help at Maker Faire booths that Paul coordinates to show Nova Labs creativity. (he's the tall one in the photo). The 3D printed parts of our robot allows us to fully customize fit and functionality of the pieces.
Paul 'makes' some really cool 3D Printed things. His Marble Motion Machines are truly amazing. He is allowing us to manufacture these to help raise funds for Nova Labs Robotics. Look for more info as we develop this idea!
Sam Steele - Metal Shop. Sam (the black shirt) is a wizard in the metal shop (and other areas too). When we were experiencing challenges with a drill press to drill into the ends of V-Slot for a custom linear slide module, Sam graciously offered to help us perform this task on the lathe. That's a cool part of the Maker DNA - he just stepped in and offered to help. He taught Kieran and Jacques how to perform this task on the metal lathe which drilled the 32 holes in four pieces perfectly. We learned about his background and he shared important perspective that it's important to know how things work in the shop to be a better designer. Hands on with the tools gives important insight into creating better designs at the computer stage. We also learned he had Lego Mindstorm experience in his school days. It was a great, unexpected encounter that helped our custom linear slide move closer to completion. We are excited to have Sam as a Maker Mentor for the team.
Zack Borschuk - CNC Router, Vinyl Cutter, T Shirt Press, Laser Cutter, Wood Shop. Simply put, Zack does it all in the MakerSpace. He has provided us training and support on the CNC router which gives us our cool polycarbonate robot chassis. We also took his Vinyl Cutter class to learn how to make our own custom designed T-Shirts for the team. Zack is always generous with his time and helps us identify sources for low cost materials whether metal, wood or poly - he knows all the places to consider. We appreciate his teaching style in helping us identify vulnerabilities in our design and understanding the 'why' so we can learn.
Brian Jacoby - Co-Founder, Board of Directors, 3D Printing and random tinkerer. Brian is one of the reasons the Nova Labs makerspace exists and has grown so successfully. He is a self confessed person of too many projects of a huge variety and not enough time. As we made our initial visits to Nova Labs, Brian was instrumental in helping us understand the volunteer makerspace concept. He introduced us around and after a few years of being attendees, he sponsored us as Key Members. He is always smiling and exuding positive energy. He continues to patiently nudge us to teach classes - our next level of team outreach activity and personal growth. We appreciate the support that Nova Labs provides to foster and grow the Robotics program by way of leaders like Brian.
Patrick Waters - Wood shop (coming soon pending permission)
Mike Hogarty - 5S and generally teaching us about optimization (coming soon pending permission)
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