Category Archives: maker spaces

Education, maker spaces, Things to Do, Vermont Makers

Call For Makers and More!

Call for Makers! Register for this year’s Champlain Maker Faire!

Fill out your application here

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PreCollege and Professional Development Courses at UVM this summer! Register by June 15.

Summer Academy for High School Students

“Makers Academy” a precollege credited course is open to high school Juniors and Seniors. Funding available for Vermont Students.
Register by June 15. Learn More.fablab(1of1)

The Vermont Engineering Initiative – Making and Engineering Design for teachers and professionals

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Our goal is to empower teachers to successfully implement engineering design in the classroom in accordance with the Next Generation Science Standards. We offer training opportunities, community support and connection to the vibrant faculty, research and facilities of UVM’s College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences. Register by June 15! Learn More

Arduino, Awesomesauce, maker spaces, STEAM

Champlain Maker Faire Organizing Partners Update

Champlain Maker Faire Organizing Partners Update

By Doug Webster
Making in Vermont has come a long way since a 2011 Single Pebble lunchtime discussion with John Canning, Paul Zaloom (Nickelodeon’s Beakman’s World) Ben and Jerry, Doug Webster, Bruce Seifer, John Abele, Pat Burke, and Will Raap. Making is becoming popular in libraries, schools, colleges, museums, and communities.  Jenn Karson, who formed Vermont Makers says more than 500 students, parents and librarians attended 28 STEAM/making programs last summer and more than 1700 attended talks on making and innovation.

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Lucie deLaBruere and Greg Young ran multiple workshops for public school teachers on making to more than 100 from around Vermont. And, making is becoming more popular as an economic development force where viable businesses are spurred because of new low cost and accessible technologies.  New maker spaces have emerged such as Burlington Generator and in the not too distance future the Upper Valley Maker Space (White River and Claremont) and The Foundry (Lyndon/St Johnsbury) doors will be opening.  More community makerspaces are being planned in Brattelboro, Rultand, Bennington, Shelburne, and Townshend to name a few. Thanks to supporters of the Champlain Maker Faire, the fair is the catalyst that ignites interest in making statewide and beyond.

Champlain Maker Faire 2014 was another huge success, with more than 1750 people in attendance despite the rainy Saturday.  Sunday’s ChampBot Challenge went beyond expectations with 7 teams registered and a mini champ that did circles around the course (and other Champs!).  The winners included:
#1  Robots are for Kids Too….$2,500 Cash Prize
#2  Rutland Area Robotics….$1,500
#3  Jake Nealy….$500
Honorable Mention:  Team ZMR and South Burlington High School Big Picture

The Winners:  Robots are for Kids Too, Christine and Kevin Braun, Team Leaders

Thanks and Appreciation
CMF would like to thank this year’s sponsors including:  United Technologies Aerospace Systems, Pizzagalli Properties, Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies, Vermont Agency of Commerce, Connecticut College of Technology Next Generation Manufacturing, University of Vermont Office of the Vice President of Research, Meach Cove Farms, FairPoint Communications, Vermont Technology Council, FabTech, University of Vermont College for Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, Superior Technical Ceramics, IEEE, DesignBook, Burlington Telecom, Chroma/89 North, Hallam ICS, Hagan Marketing, Seven Days, Summit Technologies, and 97.5 Eagle Country.

CMF also wants to thank Volunteers and the CMF Operations Team who made the event happen including:  John Cohn, Jenn Karson, Ken Howell, Jon Bondy, Bruce Cowan, Chris Davis, John Abele, Cecilia Telefus, Erin Boyd, Liz Ropi, Lorrie Sulva, Heather Morris, Joshua Jackson, Abby Peterson, Jesse Krembs, and Ara Hagan.  Also, many thanks to the makers and presenters made the event cool, entertaining and exciting.

So where does Making occur?
With making among communities, schools, libraries, homes, and workplaces what are the different types of making and makers?  The figure below helps explain.

Making is about…
1 Igniting interest of all ages to inspire, create and innovate using the newest and sometimes not so new tools, technologies, and methods.  This can occur at makerspaces in libraries, museums, k-8 education setting, families, and community makerspaces.  Maker Faire simulates interest in making.
2. Novice makers share and collaborate on solutions to complex challenges that involve open, honest, and constructive dialogue – this can occur in secondary education, career and technical education, community maker spaces, households, and in college labs and makerspaces.  Maker Faires are a catalyst for bringing makers together.
3. Advanced makers create things that have a broad appeal and can be presented in the marketplace including inventions, innovations, and applications in the commercial world.  This can occur anywhere in the Maker Spectrum however is more likely in a mature makerspace, college makerspace, or high end makerspace with state-of-the-art tools and equipment.  Maker Faire connects entrepreneurs and collaborators.

Things in the Making

Wearables Mixer at Burlington Generator, 250 Main Street, Thursday December 18 5:30pm…bring items to show and share and/or wear;

 

Farm and Food Tech Social Meet-up at Burlington Generator, 250 Main Street, Thursday January 15, 5:30-7:30…for farmers, food business entrepreneurs, hackers and software developers;

Creating Prosperity and Opportunity Confronting Climate Change – February 18…scientists, innovative business, community leaders will look at the impacts and potential opportunities of climate change.

2015 Champlain Maker Faire – September 26 & 27 2015 Shelburne Farms Coach Barn…same fair, new twists, new maker challenges in addition to ChampBot.  What will YOU make?

   

   

CMF National Innovation Education Institute – September 28 & 29, 2015  Burlington Hilton…new endeavor to grow making education in partnership with ASU, Purdue, Connecticut College of Technology and many others;

CMF’s Renewed Culture of Innovation TV Series – “Makers on Screen”.  Production startsJanuary 21st 2015…local makers will be interviewed every Wednesday on RETN TV.  Contactinfo@champlainmakerfaire.com if interested in being a guest;

Create, Make, Learn Summer Institute – July 13-17, 2015  Burlington Generator…is a series of professional development opportunities for educators to experience the power of learning through creating and making.  See more at www.CreateMakeLearn.org;

ArtDuino Challenge Camp – August 3-7 2015 Shelburne Farms Coach Barn…2014 supported by Cognizant Inc., Making the Future.  This year is a challenge camp with focus on ROV, Drone, Ag, Dance.  See www.champlainmakerfaire.com for details coming up.

Joe Chase and mentors run ArtDuino workshop at 2014 New York World Maker Faire.

Makers Academy – UVM, Summer 2015 with Jenn Karson…experience the convergence of art and technology in engineering, contemporary art, and the DYI maker movement.  Dates TBA;

Engineering Design Principles for High School Teachers – UVM, July 11-18…Next Generation Science Standards necessitate that k-12 classes weave engineering design into their science and math curricula.

For more information, contact info@champlainmakerfaire.com

 

Awesomesauce, e-textiles, Education, maker spaces, STEAM, Things to Do, wearables, Workshops

STEAM-y Summer Library Programs! Meet our educators

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For Vermont Kids and Families
July + August 2014

This summer Vermont Makers and its partners are producing 28 programs at 14 Vermont libraries all across the state of Vermont! Programs for kids of all ages will showcase hands-on STEAM-y (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) projects.

Programs were created for middle school kids and older. Please preregister with participating libraries.

For the program schedule and descriptions of programs, visit STEAM-e-ZINE!

Meet our Educators:

Rebecca Schwarz works across disciplines to enrich health through art on individual, collective and Earth based levels. Her art is inspired by patterns in nature with technology as one more layer of patterning. She has a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in sculpture and an MFA in interdisciplinary arts focused on community engaged art, teaching and ecological art. Rebecca teaches at Champlain College and coordinates Art from the Heart, connecting children, families and caregivers with play and creativity in the hospital. Her work can be seen at rebeccaschwarz.com.

Cecilia Telefus displayed a passion for technology from a young age and enrolled in her first class focusing on electricity at the age of 17. She went on to college to learn more about her passion and subsequently landed a job maintaining semiconductor fabrication and test equipment. Her lifelong interest led her to work in a wide variety of technical roles such as an electromagnetic effects lab technician, a professional pyro-technician, and most recently as a Product Support Analyst at a web solutions firm. As the daughter of an artist she is excited about the endless possibilities the Maker Movement will present for the fusing of two of her favorite interests.

Dayle Payne has been a teacher for almost thirty years, the last eight as a technology teacher at Georgia Elementary and Middle School. A self described joyous nerd, she loves dabbling in all things technology related. Special interests currently include eTextiles, laser cutting odd shapes for jewelry making and Arduino processing.

Lynn Motschman formalized her need to know how things work with a BS in architecture and engineering at Norwich University, but her real education came about raising four children with unbridled curiosity. Helping out in Vermont libraries’ STEAM-powered summer offerings seemed like a natural place to extend the excitement she felt working with her own kids and more recently, as a student herself in the U of Vermont FabLab. Lynn is really looking forward to meeting the next generation of makers and inventors, to see what they can teach her.

Jenn Karson
Bio

Beverly Ball is a long-time teacher of art, craft, welding & technology at Denver Academy where she established the Saipe Family Metal Arts Studio, the TinkerBelles girls’ maker club, and the schoolwide Craft/Tech/Art Lab. Her specialty lies in blending art-making, academics, skills and mischief.

Caleb Clark is the director of the EdTech master’s program at Marlboro College, where he also teaches and coordinates academic technology support. He has been a Web geek since 1994 and an educational technologist since 1999. Caleb’s interests include: eportfolios, online media production for teachers, physical computing, citizen journalism, and humanizing technology. Caleb’s passion for Internet technology and media began when he joined the dot com revolution in San Francisco in the mid-1990s. He went on to work in educational technology in corportate (Netscape, Maxis), K-12 (High Tech High) and higher education (SDSU, NYU, Antioch) organizations before settling down at Marlboro College in 2008. Caleb regularly presents at conferences and publishes.

hacker spaces, innovation, maker spaces, STEAM, Things to Do, Workshops

Vermont Libraries to Transform into Maker Spaces This Summer

June 23, 2014
For immediate release
Contact: Erica Houskeeper, Erica.Houskeeper@uvm.edu, 802-498-5495

Vermont Libraries to Transform into Maker Spaces This Summer
UVM CEMS supporting development of library STEAM programs

The University of Vermont is supporting the development of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts + Math) programs for Vermont public libraries this summer.

Fourteen public libraries from Craftsbury to Charlotte to Castleton will offer summer maker workshops for K-12 students as part of the new “Vermont Makers and Libraries: Sparking a Culture of Innovation” project. The initiative is a collaborative effort between the Vermont Department of Libraries, Vermont Makers, the University of Vermont College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, Vermont Library Association and CMF Innovations.

“By teaching and sharing technical literacy, we can help empower students through valuable and fun learning experiences,” said Jennifer Karson, founder of Vermont Makers and instructor with the University of Vermont FabLab at the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences. “The project encourages individual creativity, collaboration and lifelong learning.”

The three-hour workshops will be held June 25 to Aug. 9 and will be taught by local educators trained by Karson. The libraries are each offering two of the five modules: Creative Creatures, Squishy Circuits, Toy Hacking, E-Origami and E-textiles. Participants will learn how to use digital and physical tools to help strengthen their deductive reasoning, logical thinking and problem-solving skills.

A $20,000 Vermont Community Foundation Innovations and Collaborations Grant and a $5,000 grant from UVM CEMS are helping to fund the program. UVM CEMS is providing space for the train-the-trainer workshops for educators as part of the Vermont Engineering Initiative, and the Vermont Department of Libraries is helping coordinate and implement the program in libraries around the state.

“The maker movement is alive and well in Vermont, and like the rest of the nation, public libraries are an important player in providing opportunities to engage in these hands-on creation programs,” said State Librarian Martha Reid of the Vermont Department of Libraries. “I love the ways that maker programs can foster intergenerational learning, introduce novices and experts alike to technology and STEM, and promote teamwork and collective problem-solving.”

Modeled after hacker spaces, a maker space is a place where young people have an opportunity to explore their own interests, learn to use tools and materials and develop creative projects. In recent years, libraries across the country have embraced the trend to create maker spaces for communities.

Librarian Susan O’Connell of the Craftsbury Public Library, who was instrumental in getting the summer program off the ground, said she first witnessed the power of maker spaces at the Champlain Valley Maker Faire two years ago.

“As a librarian and teacher, too often I see children’s scientific curiosity extinguished when science is taught as a set of facts to memorize without the thrill of exploration and discovery,” she said. “At the Champlain Valley Maker Faire, people of all ages were experimenting with trajectory with a pumpkin-chucking trebuchet, learning how to solder, and watching electricity play along a tesla coil. People were trying, sharing and exploring new ideas, and kids were incredibly excited.”

O’Connell said the idea was also inspired by the Collaborative Summer Library Program, which creates programs and activities designed to encourage children to learn and read during the summer. This summer’s theme is science.

Communities participating in the initiative include Bennington, Barre, Charlotte, Craftsbury, Castleton, Fairfax, Groton, Jericho, Poultney, Quechee, Richford, Warren, Westford and Williston.

“Our goal is to make it possible for children who might not have access to this kind of programming in rural areas to engage in fun, hands-on activities and discover how science works in everyday life,” O’Connell said. “While all of the participants might not become scientists, they’ll be better prepared to thrive in our technological world.”

For more information and a list of participating libraries, visit http://steam-e-zine.com/index.php/spark-a-culture-of-innovation.

Two images are available for download (courtesy of Vermont Engineering Initiative), one of educators training for the Toy Hacking STEAM program and an image of a toy. Toy Hacking is one of the STEAM and Maker programs offered this summer in Vermont public libraries. Download the images here: http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/images/high_res/STEAM/

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UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS 
86 South Williams Street
Burlington, VT 05401-3404
Phone (802) 656-2005 • Fax (802) 656-3203
E-mail: newserv@uvm.edu
Online: www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr
Arduino, Careers, Education, maker spaces, STEAM, Workshops

Vermont FabLab Workshop – Spring 2014







An Exciting New Course at UVM Explores Innovation through Art + Technology Projects
CEMS 095 + CEMS 295
Instructor: Jenn Karson
University of Vermont | Spring 2014 | 3 Credits
Wednesdays 5:10 – 8:10pm
Download Flyer
Vermont Training Program Grant funding is available – see below

This course is open to non-degree students including:

•  Professional creatives and artists who want to explore the use of contemporary art + technology materials and methods.

•  Entrepreneurs and business professionals interested in innovation and product development

•  K-12 teachers who need to implement common core engineering + design curriculum

Vermont FabLab Workshop is an overview of the convergence of art + technology in engineering, contemporary art and the DIY maker movement. Through live demonstrations, hands-on projects and complementary readings students will gain technical skills and engage in critical reflections on aesthetics, material culture, technology and society.

Class teachings and projects will introduce design thinking, ecological thinking, handmade electronics, microcontrollers, physical computing, e-textiles, circuit bending, how to use Vermont FabLab’s rapid prototyping equipment and STEAM educational approaches. Students will be taught practical skills and class presentations will give context to how artists, scientists and technologists are using new technologies and rapid prototyping methods.

If you are interested in enrolling contact UVM Continuing Education:
Phone: (800) 639-3210 or (802) 656-2085. Click the “learn more” button below to ask a question.

The State of Vermont has approved the FabLab Workshop for Vermont Training Program Grant funding – yes, the credit course – for Vermonters work in Manufacturing, Health Care, Information Technology, Telecommunications, or Environmental Engineering. This means a 40% reduction in the cost for those qualifying for the grant.
Here is a link to more info about the grant and the application