The MIT Maker Credentials Display System: Making Member Training And Competencies More Visible In Shops

Created for ISAM 2022:

This video quickly tells the story of the MIT Maker Credentials Display System — its origin, implementation and budding outcomes. In response to requests from our student mentor community to make members’ training history and competencies more visible, we considered how other makerspaces around the world do it, including machine lockout, paper lists, traffic-signal displays, and armbands. We chose a custom credential display solution built on top of Mobius, MIT’s maker resources web app, to balance safety and responsibility with practicality and a human centered approach. The credentials program is one of the many ways Project Manus — supported by making enthusiasts from inside and outside the MIT community — is fostering the art and practice of making across campus. “Using the website, students sign in through the iPad, and their names and credentials show up on a big monitor right in the shop,” says Silvia Knappe ’21, a graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science who teaches students to use bandsaws, drill presses, and sanders in the Metropolis makerspace. “I find that really useful as a mentor, especially during open hours: if someone comes in, I can see if they need help potentially with the tool they want to use, or if I can just leave them be because they are very experienced at what they are doing.”