Critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork, collaboration, creativity, innovation...these aren't just buzz words in the higher-education realm. They are competencies that our students must exhibit to succeed in a global economy that is embracing creative and innovative minds. How do we expect our students to demonstrate these skills without a space to foster them?
Here's the proposal part. Ready? We create an on-campus makerspace in the Lee Hunt Library. The library is already a natural hub for student activity, inviting students from different majors and disciplines to gather. It's a natural space for cultivating a growth mindset, where knowledge and creativity merge. We hope to reignite authentic learning by making, doing, and playing. (Yes - even adults need to play!) Playing is learning in action. We hope to instill a maker-mindset in our students. Curious to learn more? Great!
Here's what we envision:
Carisbrooke University needs to reflect its commitment to preparing students equipped for career success and a zest for lifelong learning. Creating an on-campus makerspace would help us achieve these goals. Carisbrooke’s Makerspace Committee philosophy is simple: We believe that transforming learning spaces translates to transformed learning.
Here are 3 goals that keep us aligned to this vision:
Learning should be fun! Students should be given a safe space to explore, problem-solve, collaborate, and not be afraid to ask, "What if?" We are cultivating innovative minds who think outside-the-box, who are resilient to persist and persevere amidst a myriad of challenges. Our makerspace will be designed for students to rediscover the joy of learning.
We foresee our makerspace being a gathering space. It should be warm, comforting, versatile, and equipped with the tools and resources that our students need to succeed! With access to Apple workstations, 3D printers, iPad 3D scanners, and laser cutters, students can complete low-stakes and high-stakes projects alike. We envision the space to be a hub of student activity and an environment for creative inquiry that will ignite students’ passions and generate a genuine love of learning.
Community involvement is a critical asset to incorporate in a makerspace. We need to extend this space to our community and tap into our community's intellectual and creative prowess. Connecting our students with business leaders, artists, engineers, computer programmers, STEM professionals, and small-business start-ups will enrich students' learning and expand their options for realizing their creative dreams with supportive mentors guiding them along the way.
So what will this space look like?
The makerspace will be 44x32 feet (1,408 square feet) and housed within a vacant space in the Lee Hunt Library. The space will be supervised by 3 makerspace specialists, 3 technical instructors, and 3-5 Carisbrooke makerspace interns. We would also like to implement a peer-to-peer mentoring program involving makerspace interns who will educate and train students how to independently use equipment.
You're probably thinking, "Wow, this sounds great for our university, but are we keeping pace with our peer institutions? What are they up to? Do they even have a makerspace? If so, what projects are students working on there?" I'm glad you asked! Let's take a sneak peek into what other universities are creating.
North Carolina State University
NC State senior biomedical engineering student, Chloe Sanchez-Prado, and her three colleagues competed in The Atlantic Coast Conference ACC InVenture Prize competition. This Shark Tank-like competition invites undergraduate student teams from ACC universities to present their innovative entrepreneurship ideas and earn up to $15,000 in prize money. This year, NC State claimed first prize! Sanchez-Prado and her team developed UV Scope, a handheld bacterial spectrometer. These devices are used to detect the concentration of bacteria, such as in research labs. However, because spectrometers utilize expensive equipment, their functional use has previously been limited to high-tech lab environments. Until now.
The NC State team created a cost-effective bacterial spectrometer that is hand-held and acts like a barcode scanner. It transmits ultra-violet light, causing bacteria to emit their own light. Determining the bacterial concentration in real-time has significant implications for food processing plants and hospitals. These industries rely on devices designed to detect harmful levels of bacteria and prevent the spread of disease.
Check out this video to hear their project pitch!
Chloe Sanchez-Prado acted as the lead engineer for the team and credits NC State's makerspace for inspiring her. She began working there her first week on campus and hasn't stopped since. She states:
“Through the Makerspace, not only did I have the chance to further develop my skills in 3D design and rapid manufacturing, but I also worked in an amazing space that encouraged collaborative learning and curiosity. My experience working at the Makerspace has definitely played a huge role in my pursuit of entrepreneurship and has ultimately given me the tools to succeed as the lead engineer for our mechanical design!”
Texas Tech University
Aspiring physician and biology major SilvaTeja Pati is making headlines in how he's using the Texas Tech Library Makerspace. He designed a prosthetic hand for eight-year old Toby Carrizales, who was born without his left hand. Toby is an avid Spiderman fan. Knowing this, Pati custom-made a Spiderman hand using a 3D printer. The fabrication process took 2-3 months, but despite the long hours prototyping the design and completing multiple iterations, it was well worth it. Toby's life has changed. He's now able to throw a football, pick up objects, and play like any normal eight-year old.
Stanford University
Stanford University has dozens of makerspaces on-campus free for students, faculty, staff, and community members to utilize. The makerspaces are multi-purpose, equipped with 3D printers, lathes, and even a forge. At Lab64, Stanford science student Taylor Kubota learns how to make a mini radio with guidance from makerspace interns Kylee and Poppy. This quick video shows Taylor's first-hand experience working with soldering tools to catch some FM radio waves.
As we become more and more immersed in digital technologies, it's easy to assume that making and crafting have become things of the past, but in fact, the opposite is true. Making can spark innate creativity and instill life-long skills.
Harry Elam, the senior vice provost for education at Standford states:
Echoing his colleague's comments, Chris Gerdes, professor of mechanical engineering and co-leader in Standford's makerspace initiative states:
Carisbrooke's makerspace may not be as elaborate or as sophisticated as technical research institutes such as Stanford, but the overarching themes are consistent. Providing a space for students to exercise creative inquiry and bring their ideas to life is paramount to their futures. How do we expect students to be innovative without cultivating innovation on-campus?
We know the investment in a makerspace is significant, but every decision made at Carisbrooke is made with a student-centered focus. So it's only natural to gauge student interest in this on-campus addition. Here's what students are saying:
Our survey results indicate that 84% of students report that they will make use of the makerspace. These statistics indicate that students expect more and want to do more. A makerspace may just fit the bill, but let's talk about another bill - the estimated budget.
Let's Talk Numbers
The estimated budget for the makerspace is $309,272.73. The bulk of expenses comes from personnel salaries ($246,000), followed by equipment ($37,777.99), supplies ($20,036.74), and software ($5,458). Community partnerships and sponsorships may help alleviate start-up costs, which is why the makerspace must operate on a public platform to generate continued support and ensure its future viability. A full budget analysis is provided in the accompanying written proposal.
Future Direction
Okay. We've established our makerspace goals, reviewed exemplars of peer university makerspaces, assessed student interest, and dived into the budgetary considerations to get this project kick-started.
Your support will continue the momentum we've achieved so far. Carisbrooke's future makerspace may be the catalyst to launch learning to the next level.
References
Websites
Kubota, T. (2019, December 9). The many makerspaces of the Stanford campus. Stanford University News. https://news.stanford.edu/2019/12/09/makerspaces-at-stanford/
NC State Entrepreneurship. (2021, March 8). Meet the team representing NC State at the ACC InVenture Prize Competition - UV Scope. NC State University Electrical and Computer Engineering. https://ece.ncsu.edu/2021/03/meet-the-team-representing-nc-state-at-the-acc-inventure-prize-competition-uv-scope/
NC State University Libraries. (2021, June 3). Makerspace student worker is an InVenture Prize winner. NC State University Libraries. https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/news/main-news/makerspace-student-worker-inventure-prize-winner
Videos
ACC InVenture Prize. (2021, April 5). ACC InVenture Prize 2021 Team Pitch - UV Scope, NC State [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDYIQnE9eYY
Stanford. (2019, December 5). Stanford makerspace project first-hand [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dkG4IEOJkI&t=44s
Images
Cicero, L. A. (2013). Harry Elam [Image]. Stanford News. http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/june/images/12763-facsen_elam_news.jpg
Gerdes, C. (2020). Chris Gerdes [Image]. Ford Authority. https://fordauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Chris-Gerdes-Ford-Autonomous-Vehicles-LLC-Safety-Advisor.jpeg
In the black. (2020). Budget sitting on coins [Image]. In the black. https://www.intheblack.com/-/media/intheblack/allimages/budget/2020/budget-sitting-on-coins.jpg
LEGO. (2018). The Office LEGO set photo [Image]. LEGO Ideas. https://ideascdn.lego.com/media/generate/lego_ci/66d398bb-53a1-4045-998a-fc788ba015a1/resize:950:633/webp
Miller, J. (2018). Prototype product at makerspace [Image]. University of Wisconsin-Madison. https://obe.wisc.edu/content/uploads/2018/07/Makerspace18_8188.jpg
Miller, J. (2018). Students work on a harvest basket prototype [Image]. University of Wisconsin-Madison. https://news.wisc.edu/content/uploads/2018/07/Makerspace18_8112-1024x681.jpg
NC State Entrepreneurship. (2021). UV Scope team [Image]. NC State University Electrical and Computer Science Engineering. https://ece.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/UV-Scope-Team-Pic-wpv_2000x1333_center_center.jpg
NCSU Libraries. (2015). The makerspace team [Image]. NC State University. https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/sites/default/files/makerspace-7855.jpg
Rodgers, A. (2019). SilvaTeja Pati [Image]. Texas Tech University Arts & Sciences Magazine Spring 2019. https://www.depts.ttu.edu/artsandsciences/magazine/images/Cover2019_fullWidth.png
School Specialty. (2021). Makerspace [Image]. School Specialty. https://www.schoolspecialty.com/wcsstore/SSIB2BStorefrontAssetStore/images/corporate/2018/makerspace/makerspace-popup-gallery16.jpg
Texas Tech University Libraries. (2018). Teja Pati [Image]. Texas Tech University Libraries. https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/34600325_10156499069543914_332519481907609600_n.jpg?_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=diSqvvp8sX0AX-yq81s&tn=uHzqtVNhV-mCQDCa&_nc_ht=scontent-atl3-1.xx&oh=fdc9488e42de53cc43edb359bf80c96d&oe=60DA3553
Texas Tech University Libraries. (2018). Teja Pati with Spiderman prosthetic [Image]. Texas Tech University Libraries. https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/34457614_10156499069638914_8697043856522215424_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=SmbcUD5FkE4AX9W1mKG&_nc_ht=scontent-atl3-1.xx&oh=e29b9378de931abadb1f201e0a462fad&oe=60DA0A43
Credits:
Created with images by StartupStockPhotos - "student typing keyboard" • Bob_Dmyt - "team friendship group"