Our “Making Things” class was excited to host Alex Mitchell for the past two weeks. Alex(@MarketTheory) is a PhD candidate at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada and is researching how 3D printing in specific and the hackerspace movement in general is impacting both academics and business.

According to Alex, “In most business theory, we tend to drift towards pessimism; that is, we assume that people only pursue what is in their own best interest. On the contrary, the hackerspace movement is one where the ethos is very positive – it’s all about sharing.”

This sharing orientation fits well with the mission of the Makerlab and the credo of our class – “Learn, Make, Share.” Alex was present to see how many of our ideas are in the final stages of prototyping and are beginning to come together in preparation for the end of the semester.

During his 10-day visit to our Lab, Alex interviewed all of our Gurus as well as several of our users, attended a number of events, including the recent Hack Illinois, and did some 3D design and printing of his own. Thanks for visiting, Alex!

Written by Adam Fifeld