Can university makerspaces play a role in every student’s life?
In November 2021, we visited the university’s makerspace, the iForge. This was a good chance for me to connect with another academic field, since I have never before had such a chance to understand machines like 3D printers and laser cutters. The makerspace scene in the US is well established but, in the UK, makerspaces are still a relatively new concept, especially in higher education (Mylon et al., 2018). From the reps, we learnt that the iForge is considered to be the first makerspace in all British universities to be founded and operated by students.
The iForge is open to everyone, no matter what course they study on. But if our tutor hadn’t taken us on such an interesting course visit and linked it to our course content, I might never have known that I could participate in such creative activities. By browsing the iForge’s website in advance and completing the training before our visit, I gained a general understanding of iForge space. They have a lot of different machines such as laser cutters, a waterjet cutter, 3D printers, a CNC router and mill, etc. However, when we entered the iForge, we were still shocked. Bewildering, strange, all-new……
The rep warmly introduced the iForge space to us and began our visit. The first thing I learnt was about using the laser cutters. I was very happy when I saw my name cut into the material, even though the design stage was limited to entering my name on the computer. The second thing I learnt about was waterjet cutters. The waterjet cutter is very powerful. It can cut metal. Before that, I never knew that water could be so powerful. With the help of the rep, I input my last name on the computer and then we cut my name on the aluminum plate with the waterjet cutter. The final thing I learnt about was the 3D printer. Compared with waterjet cutters and laser cutters, 3D printers have already begun to appear widely in our lives nowadays. For example, the appearance of 3D printer pen. I believe that access to such tools may make us more creative. Students can independently carry out any projects they like in the iForge.
To be honest, this session excited me, but it also confused me a little. After understanding the basics of these machines, my design process was still limited to typing words on the computer. After one visit, I still don’t fully understand the principle or how to use particular pieces of software to design graphics. As a student majoring in Humanities and Social Sciences, I feel that I may not be able to really show my innovative design unless I can undertake more training, which would perhaps give me some ideas for what else I could do. This clearly requires students to have a strong self-driving force, because the reps in the iForge are there to assist when you need it, rather than directly instruct.
As such, I feel that there are still some barriers to novices engaging with the iForge. The machines in the iForge will be more familiar to mechanical engineering students. Although it is open to all, there are thus still barriers for some students. As Farritor (2017) has previously suggested, ‘A makerspace that is created by an engineering college might be more innovative if it allowed the use of the space by students outside of engineering (e.g., art, history, business). However, making this happen might require a different funding structure or a different physical location for the makerspace’. This is an area of thought that the reps themselves, who are keen to welcome in students from all faculties, also discussed with us.
In general, the iForge is definitely a makerspace that all students would likely benefit from participating in. In the continuous growth and development of the iForge, I believe it will attract more teachers and students to participate and will, in time, become a new channel to support students’ development.
References
Farritor, S. (2017). University-based makerspaces: A source of innovation. Technology & Innovation, 19(1), 389–395.
Mylon, P., Jones, R., Proud, W., & Wood, G. C. (2018). Five misperceptions you need to overcome when starting a makerspace. In Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Academic Makerspaces.
Yutong (‘Susu’) Ma
