I'd like to welcome everybody to my cave and answer questions from our tested patrons. Today's question comes from patron Kaylee Cat's mom, who wants to know what was the most exciting thing you came across during your makerspace tour series.
The makerspace tour series is a series that we did here on Tested, sponsored by Chevron, traveling around the country and getting a feel for what the maker space landscape was like in the US. This was an offshoot of work I'd been doing, where I was looking at how to make making things more accessible to people who don't necessarily have a background in engineering or fabrication.
During my makerspace tour series, I visited many different spaces and met many fascinating individuals who were passionate about making things with their hands. From 3D printing and CNC machining to woodworking and textiles, each space offered a unique perspective on how we can use technology to create new possibilities for ourselves and others.
One of the most exciting experiences I had during this series was visiting Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This is a place that really embodies the spirit of makerspaces, where artists, engineers, and entrepreneurs come together to create something truly unique and innovative. The entire space is designed as an immersive art installation, with each room featuring its own series of interactive exhibits and installations.
The other experience that I'd like to share with you today is one that I have to say was truly humbling. It was about a project done by students from a high school in the US who used 3D printing to create handles for elderly residents in an assisted living facility. The students, aged between 13 and 15 years old, worked closely with their classmates and teachers to design, print, and test the handles. They were looking at how they could use rapid manufacturing techniques to improve the lives of people who might not be able to use certain devices.
The process was simple yet incredibly effective. The students asked the residents about their biggest problems and identified a common issue: holding onto remotes with shaky hands due to lack of hand strength or dexterity. One student made a handle that could fit comfortably in the elderly person's hand, allowing them to hold onto the remote without struggling.
This experience was truly amazing because it showed me the impact that makerspaces can have on people's lives. Not only did it provide an opportunity for students to learn about engineering and design principles, but it also allowed them to develop valuable skills such as empathy and communication. By working with someone who is vastly different from themselves - in this case, a 15-year-old girl and an elderly resident - the students learned how to iterate on their ideas and find solutions that would work for both parties.
In conclusion, my makerspace tour series was an incredible experience that allowed me to see firsthand how people are using technology to create new possibilities for themselves and others. From innovative art installations like Meow Wolf to projects like the 3D printing handles for elderly residents in an assisted living facility, I was consistently amazed by the creativity and ingenuity of the individuals and organizations involved.
I'd like to thank Kaylee Cat's mom for her question, which allowed me to reflect on two experiences that really stood out during this series. To all our tested patrons, please keep posting your questions - they just get better and more interesting!
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey everybody adam savage here in my cave answering questions from tested patrons and today's question comes from patron kaylee cat's mom they want to know what was the most exciting thing you came across in your makerspace tour series ah that thank you for that great question makerspace tour series is a series that we did here on tested sponsored by chevron traveling around the maker spaces around the country and kind of just getting a feel for what the maker space landscape was like in the us this was this was an offshoot of work that i was doing uh at the tail end of the obama administration helping uh helping them promote making around the country and around the world uh and i traveled to dozens of maker spaces all over the u.s over the better part of a year and it was thrilling it was thrilling i saw some amazing things and i shared the love of making with hundreds of people over the course of that video series but two two experiences stand out one is a space called artisan's asylum in boston uh and that space was incredible it happens to also be populated by a couple people that i know bob plug felder science bob on jimmy kimmel who's one of my favorite science communicators and a very good friend bob has a space there uh and what what what huh all right just got a text anyway um artisan aside what was amazing about artisan's asylum it was a huge warehouse with dozens and dozens of artists who had spaces in the warehouse commonly shared tools uh lockable spaces for each of the artisans to work and there was an energy about the space that i found almost intoxicating not least of which because it kind of felt like this space just crap everywhere on the walls everywhere on the ceiling stuff in progressi like a lot of visual cacophony i find it inspirational uh and if i had one criticism of maker spaces in general that i came across for this whole makerspace tour it is that maker spaces tend to be overly clean for my taste i don't mean clean floors like yes those should be clean and the benches should be clean etc i mean stuff on the walls so if you have a makerspace i i think that you should be putting up the iterations of failed and eventually successful builds up on the wall if someone made a formula one car and it took them three prints to get it right i think you should hang all four prints on the wall and show me the progression of failure to success yes i think it is really important that the space let people know what the space can do and what the denizens of that space can do that narrative is an important one and i look around here and the narrative tells me to get to work and i like that feeling and artisan's asylum is just like this there's just stuff everywhere of every different stripe there's welding there's bicycles there's christmas trees there's tutus and ball gowns huge puppets motorcycles you name it there are different people working on it um and the people there as well i found the denizens of the artisans asylum to be really lovely the other inspiring story i found was in i i hope i'm getting this right the elizabeth forward high school in new jersey i i'm just gonna double check thatbut i just want to get this right and you're just gonna wait while i do it pennsylvania see east coast all sort of blends together after you've driven around a bunch oh who's thishello bam uhso the elizabeth forward high school in elizabeth pennsylvania uh and what was inspiring about that makerspace they gave one of the teachers there a bunch of 3d printers and said here's your new makerspace and the teacher that i met with and talked to didn't know how to operate 3d printers so she worked with her class all these young girls i mean like 13 14 sorry 14 15 years old to get the 3d printers up and running and then the teacher took her students to a nearby assisted living facility and each student each high school student adopted one of the residents of the assisted living facility and the assignment was to use the maker space that they had to improve the lives of the improve the life of the resident that you had adopted and iterate that improvement so for instance one of the students made uh asked worked with a uh uh one of the inhabitants of the of the assisted living facility and said what's what's the biggest problem you have and the person said i can't hold on to the remote my hands don't work the way they used to so she made her a large comfortable handle that held the remote so that the the resident could use it and it took three tries to get it rightthere are so many levels on which that is an amazing and almost perfect curriculum for a maker space in a in a high school in a public forum uh on just the practical front the iteration the the iterative process of working with somebody else who is vastly different than you and age right these are 14 15 year old girls and these are whatever 60 70 80 year old residents their their common ground is not wide and working with someone you don't have a lot of common ground with to iterate something that they will like that that is a huge amount of really important life experience each of those students was and hopefully is still getting from that curriculum then there is the the ethical and wonderful moral center of going to help somebody else with this skill that you are learningthe empathy that is required for i mean a 15 year old human being is effectively made of rubber bands and plastic right you can throw them off a building and they'll bounce right back i know not quite like that but frankly possessing one of these older models it's like yeah at 15 you just you feel totally invincible and so for a 15 year old high school student to find common ground with an elderly assisted living resident that is a that is a separate and also super important and beautiful life lesson to give these students and putting them together within this this space of rapid manufacturing man those kids are just learning so much good solid practical stuff that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives i was so moved by that story and by those students and and what they were doing uh there are many many more uh wonderful people places and spaces that i've that i visited uh if you're anywhere near santa fe uh and they're open again or when they open you should get yourself to meow wolf that was another unbelievable maker space that wasn't was that part of the tour i actually can't remember if it was part of the tour or if it was just part of uh uh the first nom con at any rate keely cat's mom thank you for that great question i liked going back over those two experiences and thinking about them i really appreciate it like i've always like i keep on saying uh the tested patrons you folks are so awesome your questions just get better and more interesting thank you so much keep posting them and i will keep answering them and i will see you guys as always nexttime\n"
