A Navajo Nation of Makers
By Hansen Tapaha
This piece is part of a series highlighting the work and stories of Makers across the U.S. in the run up to National Week of Making, June 17–23, 2016.
Being members of the Navajo tribe, there have been stories told by our ancestors for generations; of great leaders that would travel far to benefit the greater good of the tribe. One of these stories talks about the hero twins, Born for Water and Monster Slayer, they journeyed to the land of their father, the sun, to gather tools that would help stop the destruction of the monster that roam the lands. When they returned, they help make the land and the people become stronger than before.
Although we try to stay humble, there are times that others should know what is going on in the little reservation towns on the Navajo Nation. What we had initially set out to do in the run up to the National Maker Faire in 2015, was just complete a project and try to figure out how to make it work without embarrassing ourselves. Though that is the brutal honesty, we ended up achieving way more than expected. We ended up surprising ourselves, as well as many people. Now, we hope that we can inspire many more people to take the initiative to become Makers. Not only on our reservation, but across the country.
Our project was to build a 3D printed, 3D laser scanner from an open source website. This laser scanner can be used to generate digital 3D models for 3D printing or other purposes. We didn’t really understand how the actual project was going to work or what it did, but we were curious and ready to learn. Through many hours of day and night research between the three of us we were finally ready to start building. Starting any project can be daunting for anyone, especially if you have not met your partners. My colleagues and I met briefly before we started working on our project for the National Maker Faire, although we were all students at Navajo Technical University, in Crownpoint, NM.
Here’s a snapshot of what our prototyping and building process looked like. Most of the parts had been designed and all we had to do was to 3D print them. But challenges were a recurring theme throughout this project. So, we had to redesign some of the components, including the camera holder, the box which housed our Arduino, and the stepper motor controller. Then basically, we followed the build instructions provided from the files. But, we also had to reconfigure the electronics to have it work with our applications. These included the camera holder, and the Arduino/motor driver box.
Even though we had challenges in the beginning and throughout the course of the build, we were able to complete the project in several weeks. The actual time it took to build the scanner was two weeks, but we had to spend an additional week trying to figure out the logistics of delivering our project to Washington D.C. Using our school’s resources, the total cost of this project was $13. Commercial 3D laser scanners can cost anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars.
When we arrived in Washington, D.C., we visited many of the monuments and saw many of the tourist attractions. As we were visiting these places, we could appreciate the significance of our presence in the capital; the sites of which our forefathers of our country laid the foundations of many great ideas for us to follow. The following days were intense as we presented to many people who were curious to see what these three guys from the Navajo reservation had to bring. This included individuals who had funded various programs at Navajo Technical University as well as people who were once living near or traveled through the Navajo Nation. One visitor in particular was Dr. John Holdren, President Obama’s Science Advisor. Throughout the day we made many contacts and friends as well, especially other students from Kapiolani Community College, and a few students from the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
After the experiences that we had working on the laser scanner and exhibiting it in Washington D.C., we had to come back to reality and the continuation of our journey to help the people of our local community. Recently, Navajo Technical University received the Pathways to STEM careers NSF grant. The grant will help our school build more engineering programs for future students. We have also been invited to participate in workshops that were hosted by some of the amazing folks we met at the National Maker Faire, which are geared towards helping underrepresented minorities become successful entrepreneurs. We have also been tinkering with some projects here and there, and are preparing for the 2016 National Maker Faire.
Although our journey has not come to an end yet, we have laid out the plans for our future. We hope our efforts have not only helped our tribe, but will inspire everyone that has a chance to read this.
Hansen Tapaha is a student majoring in Electrical Engineering at Navajo Technical University. He has recently accepted an internship with NASA, along with three other fellow students from Navajo Tech.
