Here's a list of our past workshops. Let us know if you're interested in joining an encore experience.
Workshop - Introduction to Stage Lighting:
Using the Obey 10 DMX-512 (DJ Class) Lighting Board
Date: Wed Jul 02, 2025
Time: 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Duration: 2 hours
Place: incubator13 room, Rideau High School community hub,
815 St.Laurent Boulevard
Prerequisites: (none)
Age range: 12+
What to expect:
The bare basics of DMX-512, the ubiquitous lighting control standard used in theatre stages and by DJs for stage lighting.
You'll learn enough to become comfortable with wiring together, and configuring, lighting fixtures.
How to configure lighting fixtures.
How to program lighting cues using stage wash lights and Spark-fx.
How to operate the Obey 10 board during a show.
Workshop Series - Introduction to Soldering
Electronic Circuits (3-part workshop)
(This is a free build-it-keep-it workshop)
Date: July 09, 2025 - Jul 23, 2025 (weekly on Wednesdays)
Time: 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Duration: 3 x 2 hours per session
Place: incubator13 room, Rideau High School community hub,
815 St.Laurent Boulevard
Prerequisites: (none)
Age range: 12+
What to expect:
Some basics of working with a soldering iron that is intended for electronic circuits.
Practice soldering some LEDs, testing the circuits along the way. This will be done on a blank, copper-padded breadboard.
Next, you'll move onto soldering DIY circuit boards, starting with a very simple board and becoming progressively challenging. Each board is (should be) functional.
The final circuit board will be a robotic firefly, complete with undulating LED and small vibrating motors that respond to light.
Workshop - A Taste of Computer Programming & Electronic Circuits:
Arduino and Physical Computing
(This is a free build-it-keep-it workshop)
Date: Wed Jul 30, 2025
Time: 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Duration: 2 hours
Place: incubator13 room, Rideau High School community hub,
815 St.Laurent Boulevard
Prerequisites:
It will be helpful, but not necessary, to have had exposure to computer programming (including Scratch).
Age range: 12+
What to expect:
This workshop will introduce you to a tiny computer platform that is used globally by artists, and youth and adults who like to tinker. It's an approachable way to learn about physical computing, in that it uses a simplified software development environment, affordable computer (microcontroller) boards and add-on electronics, and numerous global online support communities. The workshop is intended to give you an introductory feel for the Arduino microcontroller, its programming language (essentially C/C++), and some basic prototyping of electronics that interface with the Arduino. You will actually be practicing some quite advanced ways of working with Arduino microcontrollers. It will provide you with some hands-on experience by taking small steps toward solving a small, but real-world prototype that you can take home with you. If we get it right, the workshop will be enough to whet your appetite about "the possibilities" without being overly daunting:
You will write a progression of simple Arduino microcontroller sketches (aka computer programs) and learn a little bit about the C/C++ programming language.
You will build simple electronic circuits that allow the Arduino to interact with the real world. You will be doing this in the manner in which an electronics designer / tinkerer would prototype a custom built electronic circuit.
At the end of the workshop you will have built your own wellness device--a mindful breathing coach--to take home with you:
Using an on/off pushbutton, an LED will begin fading on and off at a slow, regular pace.
By slowly breathing in and out to the pace of the LED you can entrain yourself to lower stress and anxiety.
(Some people call this yogic breathing; others call it meditative breathing. It all has the same intent: reduce stress/anxiety, and lower heart rate and blood pressure.)
Workshop (free) - The Secret of Life DNA
A hands-on DIY approach to extracting DNA from a strawberry
Date: Fri Sep 05, 2025
Time: 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Duration: 2 hours
Place: incubator13 room, Rideau High School community hub,
815 St.Laurent Boulevard
Prerequisites: (none)
Age range: 10 - 100
Seating limit: (Please register in advance on eventbrite.)