Contents
Community
Students and faculty are not the only members of MakerSpace. Anyone with a relationship to our academic community has access to our resources.
We also develop macro- and micro-communities through liaisons with other maker entities in the PSU system, as well as the campus-based MakerSpace Advisory Board.
Abington LaunchBox and Entrepreneurship
MakerSpace has a special relationship with Abington LaunchBox: we were born together under the Invent Penn State initiative. While we have evolved into independent units, MakerSpace remains affiliated with LaunchBox and serves the Entrepreneurship Minor.
As an engine of entrepreneurship, Abington LaunchBox is dedicated to the unique creative economy of Philadelphia and environs. Commonwealth citizens in Abington’s service area can consult with LaunchBox, which offers the creative entrepreneur access to:
- Business Planning
- Consultation
- Ideation
- Collaboration
- Prototyping via MakerSpace
Find out more at Abington LaunchBox
Staff-Directed Campus Projects
From the Library to the Art Gallery to Athletics, staff have access to our resources for maker projects in service to Abington’s academic mission. You can see productions out of the MakerSpace across the campus. Just a few examples include:
- Vinyl graphics for exhibitions in the Abington College Art Gallery
- A large scale Nittany Lion graphic for a reception desk at the gymnasium
- Support for Data Decision Trees, Abington’s first public art installation
- iPad holders 3D printed for a chemistry lab
What can we help you do around campus? Come on in for a consult!
Vinyl Graphics created for the Art Gallery window wall celebrating the TransMedia Narrative Gala
Artist David Buckley Borden and Assistant Teaching Professor williamCromar discuss the potential use of the CNC router for the installation of Data Decision Trees.
Connections to More Making at PSU
We are one among many PSU organizations that offer access to maker tools and maker culture.
Many times, a client needs a scope of service outside of our small-scale, DIY rapid prototyping and testing model, and we’re happy help you explore making in the larger PSU community.
Group Projects and Maker Commons
PSU’s Maker Commons is hard-wired to provide service to course-based group projects, at a larger scale than we are designed for, and more in line with a service bureau model. Like MakerSpace, use of Maker Commons is free to the community. If you are a faculty member who wishes to register a project with Maker Commons:
Innovation Center at Great Valley
Coursework performed as part of the Regional B.S. in Engineering program can access the fabrication and manufacturing-grade tools at our sibling facility in the region: Great Valley’s Innovation Center. Circuitry and robotics, a 3D printer farm, and a variety of machining centers are available for large-scale group projects and advanced fabrication strategies for our colleagues in Engineering.
Abington MakerSpace Advisory Board
This trans-disciplinary advisory board creates affiliations with primary stakeholder programs and units in the College. The purpose of the board is to:
- Bring the campus to us. Board members make recommendations to MakerSpace, making sure our mission aligns with tangible needs of the campus community.
- Bring us to the campus. Board members are evangelists helping colleagues in their respective silos understand the vision, mission, value and use of MakerSpace.
- Hold us accountable. MakerSpace leadership and staff set high standards. The Board ensures we are meeting them.
- Help us grow. The Board represents faculty at many levels of rank and across many disciplines, ensuring our efforts to secure external resources are understood to be in support of a trans-disciplinary enterprise.
Members
Past representatives from Academic Affairs:
- Dr. Jake Benfield, Associate Professor of Psychology and Coordinator for ACCESS
- Peter Hornberger, MEd, Assistant Teaching Professor of Entrepreneurship and Coordinator for Abington LaunchBox
- Dr. Binh Le, Professor, Reference and Instruction Librarian, Abington Library
- Yvonne Love, MFA, Chair and Associate Professor of Art
- Joseph Oakes, MS, Chair and Assistant Teaching Professor of Information Sciences and Technology
- Dr. Ann Schmiedekamp, Professor of Science and Coordinator for ACURA
- Dr. Yi Yang, Assistant Professor of Engineering
Past representative from Continuing Education:
- Joy Fraunfelter, Director, Continuing Education
Past representative for staff:
- James McGlade, Abington OIT
Past student representative:
- Andrew Soulchin, IST