Make:cast

Daniel Brateris on Experiential Learning at NJIT

Daniel Brateris is Director of Experiential Learning at New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, New Jersey. We talk about the practice of hands on learning and its value to students in engineering. Daniel was responsible for building out the manufacturing and makerspace facilities at NJIT. We talk about the social value of these spaces that bring students together to collaborate and also form friendships. Plus, he is seeing that the kinds of things you learn to do in a makerspace can make students stand out in the job market.

Michael Stone: Authentic Learning and Making

Dale Dougherty talks to Michael Stone of the Public Education Foundation of Hamilton County in southeast Tennessee. Michael is responsible to developing a network of 34 Fab Labs in K-12 schools with more to come next year. In this conversation, Michael talks about making as authentic learning, involving real problems and solutions, and which leads to authentic assessment. 00:00 Authentic Learning and Making02:09 Michael's Background03:54 Stumbling into Fab Labs05:46 From Master Teacher to Master Learner07:57 Coaching12:06 Authentic Assessment18:44 Expanding from one school to many20:21 Pioneers and Settlers26:37 Blending Personalized Fabrication and Personalized LearningMake: Education Forum for maker educators will be held online on September 22-23. For more information, visit https://make.co/educationforum

”I knew nurses were making because I did it myself”

Rose Hedges of UnityPoint Health in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Anna Young of Maker Health join me to talk about how a makerspace on the first floor of a hospital has created opportunities for nurses and other medical staff to prototype solutions to problems they encounter in their jobs. Rose is a nurse and manages the makerspace called Generate Lab. She is also organizing a Maker Faire at the hospital makerspace on May 17th. Anna and Rose provide insights into a bottom-up innovation process that is very different from the way the medical system normally works.

Galen Powers - People Passionate about their Craft

Galen Powers is a multi-faceted person: a maker and an inventor who has been successful in business. He credits his success to working with people who are passionate about their craft. In this conversation, Galen talks about growing up in rural California, learning about plastics and engineering graphics in high school and then figuring out how to get a job doing something useful. He talks about his many jobs, and how we came to get patents on the fabrication of eyeglasses. Joining the conversation is Jeff Johnson, who is with ChatLab in Chattanooga Tennesee and a friend of Galen's. Together, they were part of the founding of LVL1 makerspace in Louisville Kentucky.Galen talks about finding talent in makerspaces and helping them find jobs -- and he doesn't quite understand why some makers aren't interested in making money. He also has his own way of interviewing job candidates, asking them to bring and talk about a portfolio of their work as well as a hobby that is connected to their career. He's accomplished quite a bit with 57 patents to his name but no college degree. I see Galen as a kind of valuable prototype of a person, which I wish we knew how to create more of. I enjoyed this conversation with Galen for many reasons, as you'll see.

The Return of Robogames

Organizer David Caulkins and Combat Robot Legend Ray Billings talk about the return of Robogames, which takes place at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton CA on April 6th through 9th, 2023.Robogames is the world's largest robot competition with over 54 different events -- everything from tiny little Rubik's cube-sized Sumo robots that act autonomously to humanoids that play soccer. The big thing is always the 250-pound robots in our 40 foot by 40 foot, 130,000 pound arena. When I asked David Caulkins towards the end of this interview, how he was able to bring back, Robogames after a four-year absence, he said that his arena was so badly damaged in 2018 that he couldn't continue but an anonymous contestant offered to put up $1M to bring back Robogames.David is also joined by Ray Billings who has been competing in combat robot events for 22 years. His robot "Last Rites" was a previous winner at Robogames, and this year he'll be featuring "The Mortician," which is another variation of the offset horizontal spinner. Ray gives some great advice to those thinking about competing in combat robots: "start small", advice which no one seems to follow.

The Story of Voron Design with Maks Zolin

Maks Zolin wanted to build a better, faster printer that was also quieter. He set out building the Voron printer in his garage but he ended up deciding that he didn't want to run a 3D printer company. So, he open sourced his work and invited others to collaborate with him. That's how Maks came to launch Voron Design, an innovation community pushing the limits of what 3D printers can do. In this episode, I asked Maks Zolin to tell the story behind Voron Design.

Obsessed with Colorful LED Orbs

Maker and educator, Debra Ansell is my guest on this episode of Make:cast. She is obsessed with orbs -- colorful, LED orbs and she shows us how to build a brightly lit orb in the new issue of Make Magazine. Debra and I talk about the process of developing her orb project. She also talks about her LED pillows based on the Pixel Blaze controller, as well as an LED neck pendant, both of which have been featured in Make Magazine. She volunteers in schools, teaching kids to code using MicroBit. She is as bright as her many LED creations.

On Pulleys and Pirate Ships-Learning CAD

A lot of makers struggle to learn CAD. Why is this keystone piece of software such a challenge to learn? This is what I talk about with Jake Sugden and Josh Manley, who are the teachers of CAD Class at cadclass.org. Jake and Josh met at Urban Workshop in Costa Mesa, California, a professional makerspace where they had a lot of opportunity to see people struggling to learn CAD. They have put together an online 12-week class for those who want to learn CAD along with others.

Customizing Adaptive Devices for People with Disabilities

Microsoft's Bryce Johnson and John Helmes Join Make: Editor Caleb Kraft to talk about creating adaptive devices that can be customized, hacked and modded easily by makers using 3D printers as well as the people with disabilities who use them. Bryce Johnson works at the Inclusive Tech Lab at Microsoft who is one of the co-inventors of the Xbox Adaptive Controller and the Surface Adaptive Kit. John Helmes is an industrial designer at Microsoft who began creating and customizing devices for his daughter, Jara, who has cerebral palsy to help her interact with a PC. His work has led to Microsoft Adaptive Accessories, which allows users to adapt devices using 3D printed parts. Make: editor Caleb Kraft has his own side project, The Controller Project, that he and volunteers around the world 3D print accessories for free for people to be able to game. Bryce, John and Caleb have a fascinating conversation about how these capabilities are changing lives.LinksMicrosoft https://www.xbox.com/en-US/accessories/controllers/xbox-adaptive-controllerhttps://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/b/accessible-adaptive-devices-accessoriesOther organizations:www.makersmakingchange.comAblegamers.comwww.thecontrollerproject.comSpecialeffect.org.uk

Santa Needs Maker Microfactories

The world needs more maker microfactories and I wonder if Santa might be interested in learning more about them from Tim Keller, the head of Inventopia in Davis CA, my guest on this episode.A maker microfactory is a kind of makerspace that focuses on the needs of startups and individual entrepreneurs who are creating prototypes for a business. Keller started Inventopia because he wanted such a space to work. Now, with his proximity to UC Davis, he offers space and equipment for all kinds of startups, particularly in bio-manufacturing for food and medicine.