Winter 2019 Newsletter
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Project Manus is MIT’s effort to upgrade campus makerspaces and foster student maker communities.
Address
77 Massachusetts Ave,
Building 35-237
Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone
(617) 258-7609Connect
In a makersystem, local makerspaces network together to offer specialized capabilities to a larger community.
We are working hard to make sure MIT students have access to the tools, spaces and information they need to make, create and innovate.
Mobius connects students, faculty and researchers with nearby resources they can use to make, measure and innovate.
Dear Friends of MIT Project Manus,
Greetings from Cambridge!
Amazing things are happening at Project Manus! We are excited to provide new updates on our ever-evolving mission to upgrade MIT campus makerspaces, improve maker training and foster maker communities through events and initiatives across MIT and around the world.
MIT’s largest makerspace will be built in the Met Warehouse. An important first step has been completed with the selection of an architect. Diller Scofidio + Renfro have been tapped to lead the renovation. Professor Culpepper and Jonathan Hunt recently hosted a delegation of the architects for makerspace tours and a Makerspaces 101 workshop. Alongside a new home for the MIT School of Architecture + Planning, the Met will be home to MIT's largest makerspace, open to all students, faculty and staff regardless of departmental affiliation. We can't wait!
The Make Impact Consortium was created to transform the way that universities enable students to learn hardware-based entrepreneurship. Our mission is to provide tangible resources and best practices that speed integration of technology, innovation, making and entrepreneurship within universities and the technology innovation ecosystems that surround them. After multiple kick-off meetings and successful webinars, we hosted our first bootcamp on the MIT campus in June 2018. The topics of the bootcamp were Entrepreneurial Makerspace Basics and Tools, Technology, Safety, Staffing, Training. We hosted delegations from the Indiana University, Derby University (UK), University of New South Wales, Sydney (AUS), and MIT in the MIT IDC Center.
Our next bootcamp will be June 3-7, 2019, University of Derby, Derby UK (Entrepreneurial Makerspace Basics and Tools, Technology, Safety, Staffing, Training).
MakerLodge has been a huge success for first-year maker education — so much so that we realized we must provide a similar experience to everyone on campus. Project Manus opened its second makerspace, The Deep, this year in the basement of Building 37. Student mentors provide hands-on trainings to their peers. While MakerLodge focuses on first-year students, The Deep extends the general benefits of MakerLodge to every MIT staff/faculty/student. The Deep is also used by Project Manus as an experimental space, where we learn how to optimize trainings and check out the latest equipment.
MIT celebrates making at a new campus-wide event — MakerBreak. The first MakerBreak, a campus-wide celebration of making sponsored by Magna International, was a massive success last April. MIT News documented the day, and the success of MakerBreak 1 led to a second event held this past October. Over 700 MIT students took a much needed break from their studies and tapped into their creative sides for a full afternoon of maker-based activities and competitions. Students made battlebots, jewelry, welded structures, candles, brownies, origami, wooden catapults and cars, buttons, liquid nitrogen ice cream and more. MakerBreak 3 will be back in the Johnson Ice Rink on Tuesday, April 16th from 2-4 PM, open to all MIT community members.
Three team members have joined Project Manus team this past year.
Robyn Goodner adds expertise in CNC machining to our technical staff. She joined us as a Maker Technical Specialist. Hailing from UMass Lowell, Tufts, and Olin College, she specializes in creating peer-to-peer training programs and optimizing makerspace accessibility. Her areas of making specialization include CNC machining and woodworking. She works primarily with The Deep.
Angelina Jay adds expertise in bridging science and engineering with making and community building to our staff. She joined our team as a Technical Instructor. She received her B.S. in aerospace engineering and her Ph.D. in structural engineering, spending many hours over many years getting her hands dirty in the lab. After a quick stint in consulting, she is happy to be back to more hands-on adventures. She works primarily with MakerLodge.
Sarah Gallaher adds organizational skills to our staff and coordinates Project Manus’ relationships with on- and off-campus stakeholders. She joined us as an Administrative Assistant II. A recent import from Michigan, Sarah is an avid maker of many things from baked goods and floral design, to picking up a hammer and building things around the house.
Have a great rest of your winter. We look forward to connecting with you soon!
Follow us on social media for current updates on all our work: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook
Happy making!
The Project Manus Team
project-manus.mit.edu
