University of Kent students Daniel Knox and Keith Greenhow explore the meaning and development of the 'maker culture', posing a question to the audience, 'what makes a space a place?'

1. STUDENTS AS
MAKERS
A presentation on why some
staff are going to hate us…

2. A Dystopian Future…
THE UNREALISED POTENTIAL OF A LABSPACE.

3. THE BACKSTORY
From the man and his shed,
to the Maker and his space.

4. A SHED
Hobbyists have made custom
things for a long time, where
very early innovation came
from the garage, the shed or
the loft

5. THE HACKER IN THE
GARAGE
“The biggest threats are
people in a garage that you
have never heard of who can
come and disrupt you.”

6. THE ‗HACKER‘ AND
THE ‗MAKER‘.
An ecology of terms.

7. IS IT A HACKERSPACE,
MAKERSPACE, OR
FABLAB?
An ecology of terms.

8. HACKERSPACES
Originally, a collection of
programmers sharing a
physical space. These spaces
soon added electronic circuit
design, prototyping and
manufacturing to their interests
and services.

9. MAKERSPACES
Often used when people were
uncomfortable associating a space
with the term ‗hacker‘. However,
Makerspaces became associated
with a drive to enable as many craft
to the most significant extent
possible.

10. FABLABS
A network of spaces started by
Neil Gershenfield (MIT Media
Lab). The founding principle is
that there is a set of tools that
allow novice makers to make
almost anything given a brief
introduction.

11. COMMON MACHINES
AND PRINCIPLES
Give me a spool of ABS long
enough and a 3d printer in
which to use it and I will print
you the world. ~ 21st century
Archimedes

12. PRINCIPLES
• ‗Adopt-a-machine‘
• Open access (near to
24hr)
• Membership
• ‗Bring-your-own‘ stock

13. MACHINES
•
•
•
•
Laser cutter
Milling Machine
3D Printer
Vinyl Cutter

14. TOOLS
•
•
•
•
•
‗Dremels‘
Sewing Machine
Measuring & Marking Out
Dev Kit
Etc.

15. MAKING IN AN
ACADEMIC CONTEXT
Teaching people to ignore the
manual

16. MIT MEDIA LAB
An interdisciplinary research laboratory at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
devoted to projects at the convergence of
technology, multimedia and design.
Accomplishments: Lego-Mindstorms, MPEG4,
the clit-mouse, etc.
Annual operating budget: approx. $45 million

17. INSTITUTE OF
MAKING - UCL
A multidisciplinary research club for those
interested in the made world. Regularly olds
masterclasses and public events centered
around the ‗Materials Library‘ – a collection of
materials on earth.
Alongside the collection is a makerspace – a
workshop where students can design and
make things in a variety of materials
(blacksmith, 3d printing, milling, etc.)

18. THE SHED
Q. Do we need a…. ?
A. Yes.

19. WHY DO WE
NEED A
MAKERSPACE?
A new computing culture is emerging, not just
at the hobbyist level, but as an increasingly
important way in which agile, entrepreneurial
organisations trial new ideas, and in which
external stakeholders engage with the
technology community. There is an opportunity
for us—and perhaps an obligation to our
students—to be part of this growing culture, to
build necessarily interdisciplinary pedagogy, to
form links with a new entrepreneurial culture,
and to engage students in exciting forms of
problem-based learning.
- Paraphrased from original proposal

20. WHAT KIND OF
SPACE DOES IT
NEED?
―Such a new approach requires a certain kind
of space, and extended periods of time; this
cannot be done within the constraints of
traditionally timetabled rooms. We would need
dedicated studio space—ideally, externallyfacing—for this activity, where students can
work and store partially completed projects.
This provision of a space would encourage
students to get to know one another in a workrelated setting, provide space for other project
work…‖
- Colin Johnson & Sally Fincher

21. ADDING THAT
ACADEMIC
TWIST
Unlike the Media Lab and the Institute of
Making, strongly academic environments
designed to look like community driven Maker
environments, The Shed is designed/intended
to be a communal space for people to make,
with the addition of organised classes to
introduce some of the beginner concepts.

22. OVER TO YOU
How do we make a space, a
place?

23. ABOUT US
Daniel
Knox
Keith
Greenhow