Session #1 of 3-Day HS Robotics & 3D Modeling Workshop: Huge Success!

Last week, we held our first session of our 3-Day High School Robotics & 3D Modeling Workshop for the summer. Teens of various ages participated in this workshop over the course of 3 days where they had access to world-class software & resources to ultimately build their own remote-controlled car! This workshop was taught at the MakerLab by MakersUIUC, a product design and development organization at the University of Illinois that gives students the opportunity to pursue innovative and creative projects.

"Leading a 3D Printing, 3D Design, and Arduino workshop for high school students at the UIUC Maker Lab was a very rewarding experience because of the opportunity share my passion for engineering and learning with such animated students. "

A PLATFORM FOR EXPLORATION & INNOVATION

MakersUIUC provided participating students with the platform to explore there ideas and learn about the different technologies they could use, such as Arduinos and 3D Printing, to make them come to life! 

Student_Coding

Students spent the first day of the workshop learning how to 3D model parts in Autodesk Inventor software. This tool is popular in many schools adopting the next generation of technology and science standards. Within this software, students were able to gain knowledge on the tools that are available in the STEM field to begin visualizing and modeling their ideas!

ROBOTICS & ARDUINOS

On the second day of the workshop, students got the opportunity to work with Arduinos, which are tiny electronic platforms that can easily be programmed using online software and turned into functioning equipment that runs the programs loaded onto them. Students used Arduinos to write the programs for their remote-controlled cars!

3D PRINTING A CAR!

The students spent their final day in the 3 day workshop series finalizing their car designs and printing them out. Students were able to see firsthand how additive manufacturing is transforming the landscape for inventors and product developers by seeing how quickly and accurately their designs became tangible cars. Before printing their car, students chose the color they wanted to print in and added the final touches in Inventor to make sure the car represented their personalities and design flair!

Viewing 3D Printing

Working on Car

Finally, students put together their cars and participated in an obstacle race where they got to see their cars in action!

Student with Car

NEXT SESSIONS

We will be offering two more sessions of our 3-Day High School Robotics & 3D Modeling Workshop on July 13th-15th (Session #2) and August 3rd-5th (Session #3). Spots are still available, so if you would like to register, please visit our Summer Pagefor details and to sign up! We look forward to seeing you or your student at our next session!

Celebrating the #NationOfMakers and the Week of Making

The MakerLab was setup with a mission to allow users to experience "making" with digital technologies, and show them that it is possible for everyone to be a maker. We have had the pleasure of hosting several hundred makers over the last two years, from across campus, area schools, and community members over the last two years. We could not have done without the support of our partners, such as Autodesk, Caterpillar and P&G and individuals who have donated generously. We have also reached out to the community with two field labs in West side of Chicago and in South Illinois, with our support of the Illinois Marketplace and Maker Literacy Project, funded by a $300,000 grant from the University of Illinois Extension. The university(along with several other schools) signed a letter of support for Making to the President last year. This year the White House is celebrating the anniversary of the first ever Makerfaire , held in June 2014, with some more events. In addition, we are part of the MakeSchools alliance, who have submitted a commitment to making from the schools in a letter to the president this year. The whitehouse press release gives a shout out to Illinois for supporting spaces such as ours, from among over seventy schools.

We are celebrating the National Maker Faire , and the week of Making with a variety of workshops. with something for everyone, from the MakerGirl workshops, to high school robotics and 3dprinting, and our Maker Certificate series.

To launch this special event, we are having the Free Print Friday on June 12th, with extended open hours from 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm If your print takes less than one hour, we print it free! Just for today, so join us and be a part of the #NationOfMakers.

Congrats to Winnie & Ryan!

Congratulations to Winnie & Ryan on their recent graduation from the University of Illinois!  Winnie and Ryan earned their BS in Engineering and are off to new adventures. Winnie will be working for Boeing in St. Louis, while Ryan is considering his options. We recently held a celebratory dinner at the Firehaus in Champaign.

Winnie and Ryan were two of our earliest Gurus and did great work in this capacity for over two years! Both of them excelled in leading workshops, creating 3D designs for students and businesses alike, repairing broken printers, and serving our diverse user base. Our Lab won't be the same without them but we are sure that they will be just as successful in their new jobs!

Join us for a Summer of Making at the Lab

projects-car

We have an exciting summer planned at the lab. We have open hours on M/W/F from 3:00 to 6:00 in most weeks( See the Events page for any closures during these times) , and we welcome students/faculty/staff/community members and area businesses as well.

We have special workshops for  college students/faculty/staff/community members, where you can get a maker certificate if you do all four worshops, for high school students and university students in robotics and 3D modeling/printing, and for girls aged 7-11 with the MakerGirls .

Join us for a summer of making!

Dremel Donates Printer!

Recently, our friends at Dremel, donated a new IdeaBuilder 3D Printer to our Lab. This printer is similar to our standard Replicator 2 3D printers: both print using PLA (polylactic acid) filament. However, the IdeaBuilder has a multicolor navigation screen and also provides an enclosed build area which helps the printer maintain a consistent printing temperature and reduces the impact of unwanted external airflow. Please give this new printer a try the next time you visit our lab. We are very appreciative of Dremel's generosity and support of our Lab's initiatives!

MakerGirl launches with renewed enthusiasm

The mission of MakerGirl is to introduce girls from the ages of 7 - 10 to STEM fields.  They conducted a pilot session at the MakerLab last fall and have launched there non-profit this spring. They have scheduled several sessions at the Lab this spring semester and got over 60 signups.  At the sessions, girls will make a simple object using a 3-D printer and will do a fun activity and learn a lesson relevant to a woman leader in STEM.  while making friends and meeting women student leaders at UIUC.

We are excited to announce that they will be having more sessions this semester due to high demand.  These will be on April 20 and May 4 from 6 to 7:30 PM, in addition to the others already scheduled.  The April 20th session will be a repeat the March 16 session "Clipped to the Future" and the May 4 session will repeat the March 30 session "Make A Name for Yourself" so please do not sign your daughter up if she has already attended the respective sessions. Parents are invited to attend the last half hour of the session to learn about the importance of women in STEM and how they can inspire their daughters to pursue STEM fields at home.  Cost is $15, and scholarships are available if you qualify for subsidized lunches. Find out more at http://makergirl.us/ and contact them at makergirl.uiuc@gmail.com

At the last few sessions, girls have left the sessions wanting to become 'MakerGirls' and engineers and parents have truly enjoyed watching their daughters learn about STEM.  A fellow C-U parent has said,

"I think I've been so attracted to MakerGirl, for exactly the reason Covey indicates below. I've been looking for a way to change [my daughter's] paradigm from a consumer of technology ( watching Frozen on the iPad, playing apps, streaming video through Chromecast, etc ) to a builder of technology. MakerGirl has allowed that transformation to happen seamlessly."

https://youtu.be/faVDgxTmTKw