Makerspaces in Education: Becoming Comfortable Using Your ShopBot and Other Digital Fabrication Tools

Showing off projects created on a ShopBot CNC and a laser cutter

Do you own or have access to digital fabrication equipment such as a ShopBot CNC machine, laser cutter, or 3D printer, and an interest in education? Do you want to know more about the software and machines available for digital fabrication in …

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ShopBot one of the most popular tools at think[box] maker space

Larry Sears and Sally Zlotnick Sears think[box] is arguably one of the largest and most dynamic maker spaces in the country. think[box] is located at Case Western Reserve University’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and provides a space for anyone – students, faculty, and alumni and members of the community – to tinker and …

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FirstBuild Mega Hackathon

Recently ShopBot helped sponsor an event called the FirstBuild Mega Hackathon in Louisville, KY. I had the pleasure of representing ShopBot and getting to know a lot of innovative thinkers.

FirstBuild is a makerspace sponsored by GE appliances. They have a team of engineers, fabricators, and marketers on hand whose mission is to create …

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FabLab Tacoma serves a community of students and entrepreneurs

FabLab Tacoma and Created to Create’s collaborative group

Founded in late 2012 by Stephen Tibbitts, FabLab Tacoma is a community-based prototyping and technology workshop that’s open to the public with a membership business model. I spoke with Stephen recently to learn more. “We opened up the FabLab to provide easy access to cutting-edge design …

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Autistry Studios helps teens with autism and other learning differences

Janet Lawson, Dan Swearingen and Ian Swearingen

Autistry Studios in San Rafael, California, is a unique non-profit organization that helps teens and adults with Autism, Asperger’s, and other learning differences become successfully independent by building on each student’s interests and talents and creating a supportive community. Autistry’s founders, Janet Lawson and Daniel Swearingen, are …

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Pikes Peak Library features a ShopBot in its Maker space.

Patron using the ShopBot Desktop at Pikes Peak Library Maker Space

 

I caught up recently with the staff at Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) in Colorado to learn more about their 21st century Maker spaces. PPLD’s Travis Duncan said, “We want to be on the forefront of continuing to make public libraries useful …

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Can you CNC a classic American chair? Of course you can.

Architect, designer and educator John Thomas Heida relaxes in his retro, flat-pack chair

John Thomas Heida is an architectural designer, a furniture designer, and a digital-fabrication specialist at the School of Visual Art’s Visible Futures Lab. He teaches at the New York School of Interior Design, School of Visual Arts and at …

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A Journey from Maker to Maker PRO: The Timbrr Stylus story

The first thing that strikes you when you step inside Dom Peralta’s garage/maker space in San Mateo isn’t necessarily the high-pitched drilling of his ShopBot Desktop’s spindle. Rather it’s the very pleasant and heady aroma of natural California cedar. That’s because the ShopBot is hard at work precision-cutting wooden dowels of cedar for the Timbrr …

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NextFab Studio has Grand Re-opening in Philadelphia

ShopBot’s Ted Hall reports, “This past Thursday Jan. 17 I participated in the Re-Opening of NextFab Studio … an amazing local maker-space in Philadelphia. It’s a large workshop with all the equipment you can imagine, great individual work spaces, an operating Cafe, and some amazing digital fab tools, including a large 5-Axis water-jet cutter. Looks …

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