Makerspaces, libraries and education

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Additive manufacturing – or 3D printing – is 30 years old this year. Today, it’s found not just in industry but in households, as the price of 3D printers has fallen below US$1,000. Knowing you can print almost anything, not just marks on paper, opens up unlimited opportunities for us to manufacture toys, household appliances and tools in our living rooms.

But there’s more that can be done with 3D printed materials to make them more flexible and more useful: structures that can transform in a pre-programmed way in response to a stimulus. Recently given the popular science name of “4D printing”, perhaps a better way to think about it is that the object transforms over time.

When his wife was misdiagnosed, Michael Balzer used 3D printing and imaging to get her well

Located on the technology University's campus in Tempe, the UAT Makers Fab Lab is equipped with the latest 3D printers, maker bots, CNC cutters and the software and knowledge guidance that students need to bring innovative ideas to life. Modeled from the design of MIT's first Fab Lab community, UAT plans to join together the student communities already leveraging the new lab from many other UAT disciplines to start the first student facilitated and University-sponsored Digital Makers Lab organization. The Digital Makers Lab is designed to foster creativity and challenge student innovators with a 24/7 environment for those who seek to lead the new industrial revolution driven by the convergence of advancing technologies.

More and more educators are ditching the chalkboards and opening their physical classroom boundaries in favour of digital learning.

Looking for more Maker Focus activities and ideas? Here you go: Introduction to 3D printing: An Easy Start to your first 3D designAn Introduction to Arduino: Creating Interactive ProjectsSquishy Circuit BoardsCatapult Projectile3D Learning Platform C...

A collection of resources on SMORE put togther by the MIT Crew.

Maker education programs are cropping up in schools across the nation as the maker movement gains momentum. Making relies heavily on skills such as problem solving, innovative and creative thinking, and perseverance — and it promotes positive mindsets and attitudes. What could be better for our classrooms, schools and society than confident, determined, innovative youth? Making empowers youth and amazing things can happen when we get out of their way!

Making often incorporates modern technologies such as 3D printing, micro controllers (such as Arduino) or robotics. Integrating these technologies can be a costly venture as it typically requires a lot of tools, equipment and materials — not to mention physical space for all of this. Resource-intensive activities or practices aren’t generally synonymous with teaching. So how can we make making affordable and approachable for teachers?

Over the last three years the UK and Australia have been leading the charge with the development of computing and digital technologies curriculum in schools. The new Australian Digital Technologies curriculum promotes creative, innovative and enterprise when using traditional, contemporary and emerging technologies. Students are encouraged to become confident makers, users and remixers of technology who understand how technologies have developed over time.

A result of this focus on digital technologies is the rise of The Maker Education Movement and Makerspaces.

So what exactly is Maker Education, what are Makerspaces, and how can you become involved at your school? Read on and be inspired to begin your first project.

In this post, Eric Sheninger describes the secrets to New Milford High School's Makerspace, and how every school can build a Makerspace.

“Multi Jet Fusion™” 3d Printing is set to change the 3d Printing landscape forever. To quote HP its “features include a unique synchronous architecture using multiple chemical agents that together resolve the fundamental limitations of current 3D printing systems”.

This does make a lot of sense and probably strikes at the heart of the one of the limiting aspects of the current crop of 3d Printers. Most of the current crop are very limited in materials variations they can print.  There is likely some of the larger 3d Printing players kicking their respective R&D labs up the butt as I write this. I am not sure how well HP’s innovation is covered by patents, but you would expect there to be plenty of action there. Certainly Multi Jet Fusion™ is trademarked by HP and a catchy little name at that.

Robotics and 3D printing seem to be on a path of convergence. This can be seen in two different ways. On one hand, 3D printers are being used to customize and construct robots. On the other hand, robotics will eventually play a role in the development of more sophisticated 3D printers and perhaps even production facilities of numerous printers, all managed by robots.

For the first time ever, hardware designed on the ground has been emailed to space to meet the needs of an astronaut. From a computer in California, Mike Chen of Made In Space and colleagues just 3D-printed a ratcheting socket wrench on the International Space Station.

The process of creating medical 3D printing models and surgical guides has just become easier with the innovations provided by Materialise; the Belgian based medical 3D printing services specialists. The company has announced the development of a new method for creating 3D models of bone joints and the surgical guides used in replacement operations.

We know we aren't the only ones who have thought about developing mobile apps using a 3D sensor. We were inspired by seeing the innovative apps and hacks the community has done using other 3D sensors.

That's why we've worked hard to make the Structure Sensor the perfect hackable sensor.

Members of the Oregon CTE-STEM Employer Coalition say many openings for skilled jobs are either unfilled or claimed by out-of-state applicants, undermining the state's companies, tax base and economy.

CES 2015 launched its first 3D printing pavilion and TechRepublic's Lyndsey Gilpin scoured it for the latest developments. Here are the five big trends she found.

This year at CES, several companies talked about their plans to take 3D printing into the classroom. MakerBot, for example, is putting a lot of resources into its Innovation Centers, which are facilities at universities where there are 30 to 100 MakerBot Replicators and scanners. The company is working with universities to educate students on the design process and potential with the technology to start to create courses that utilize 3D printing.

A traveling "Fab Lab" delivers a 3D printer and other tech tools to school districts in Oregon.

Assumption of Risk and Release Form
Even under the best and safest of circumstances, accidents can happen.
That's why we have put together a Release Form which we cribbed from the Makerspace Manual and personalized it for use here at our library:

UNBORED is, among other things, a celebration of making and makers (of all ages, but particularly kids). At various places in the book, we mention peacemakers, troublemakers, and mischief makers; videogame makers and soap makers. But what we mean by “making” and “makers” is a thriving subculture and fast-spreading movement of do-it-yourselfers interested in practical arts like metalworking, woodworking, knitting, and also high-tech stuff like electronics and robotics.

Makers believe that ordinary people — men and women, grownups and kids — can do extraordinary things in their backyards, basements, garages, and kitchens. So do we. And thanks in part to the inspiration provided by the maker movement, we’ve become makers too.