Higher Ed Makerspaces Spur Creativity on Campus

Makerspaces Serve a Broad User Base at Schools

The maker movement has flourished in university settings in recent years, says Joseph Gottbrath, senior technical director of the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley,  and a board member for the Higher Education Makerspaces Initiative, which addresses academic makerspace challenges and best practices.

While facilities vary, survey results published in the International Journal of Academic Makerspaces and Making indicate software such as Microsoft Office, the Adobe Creative Suite and CAD programs are often commonly included, along with core tools such as 3D printers and laser cutters.

“They are using a variety of machines; some very old technologies, some new,” Gottbrath says. “Machines that were really just for the trades are much more accessible in makerspaces. We’re replicating hands-on experience.”

At the University of Wisconsin–Madison, project materials such as plywood and vinyl are generally the only expense undergraduate students in the College of Engineering have when using the Grainger Engineering Design Innovation Lab. Engineering graduate students pay a $100 access fee per semester, and other students pay $150.

DISCOVER: Can technology investments impact enrollment?

The 25,000-square-foot makerspace, located in two buildings on the school’s engineering campus, includes a bevy of creative tools: Bambu Lab X1 Carbon and X1E 3D printers; GoPro HERO5 Session, Samsung Gear 360 and FLIR C2 cameras; and Alienware laptop and desktop computers.

Makerspace users also have access to a drill press, saws, sanding devices, welders and other fabrication machinery.

“There are makerspaces all over the world — in China and Europe, South America,” says Lennon Rodgers, the lab’s director. “Everywhere you go, these spaces are popping up. They're huge investments, millions of dollars.”

At Case Western Reserve University, each floor of the seven-story Sears think[box] makerspace parallels an innovation process step, from brainstorming to fabrication, according to Executive Director Claire Dorsett.

On the rapid prototyping–focused third floor, for instance, visitors can use more than 20 desktop 3D printers, soldering stations and other hardware, with help from full-time staff members and part-time student technicians, if needed. Designs can be powder-coated in a paint studio on the fifth floor.

The makerspace caters to a wide audience — including CWRU students, students from the nearby Cleveland Institute of Art and local residents — who just need to provide a photo ID to access resources.

“It gets our students out of the academic bubble,” Dorsett says. “They see and learn from folks in the community — some with years of industry experience and a solid understanding of real-world career paths, and others who are simply exploring making and tinkering with no prior experience at all.”

Makerspaces May Be Able to Tap Into Existing Infrastructure

Software can be a consideration in academic makerspaces. Licensing limitations may require some solutions to be used solely on specific pieces of equipment.

READ MORE: Modern learning environments can improve student outcomes.

Students might be able to gain access to software platforms through the degree program they’re enrolled in. A number of manufacturers also now allow students to download software directly as part of a policy the university purchases, Buffalin says.

“The university doesn’t have to manage that,” he says. “If you're doing that in your own IT department, that's a lot of work to keep pushing updates out. When the students go to the manufacturer's website, it's the newest version.”

Collegiate makerspaces can also encompass various networking scenarios.

At the Sears think[box], enterprise-grade switches and routers support high-speed wired and wireless connectivity throughout the facility’s seven floors. To enable secure, reliable access, laser cutters and other machines are connected to the secured CWRU campus network behind a university firewall.

Instead of sending designs from a personal device to a machine, users prepare files on workstation computers with preinstalled software such as CorelDRAW for laser cutters. Final images are transferred locally via USB, uploaded to network-connected workstations or queued through manufacturer software linked to the machine over a LAN.

Automated systems that grant access to specific machines after a student has passed an online or in-person training curriculum can help makerspaces control device access, ensuring safety measures are met while enhancing the user’s experience.

To use a device like a laser cutter at the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation, students sign in to Berkeley’s identity and access management system, which checks their campus training record to confirm they’ve met the qualifications to use it.

“For more technical equipment, you’re required to show competency through hands-on training,” Gottbrath says. “We spent a lot of time developing tools to manage that. Every makerspace has to design access for whatever facets of its space are unique.”

With responsible-use parameters in place, makerspaces allow faculty members to supplement classroom learning through assignments that let students engage with unique technologies and processes, and each other, Buffalin says.

“So much learning takes place,” he says. “Our spaces are run by student employees. They're getting some professional and soft-skill development, tackling any problem that comes in. The students who are hanging out and using the space have a willingness to help; there's a community that's created.”

Offering makerspace technologies that might not be found elsewhere on campus — or, easily, outside of it — could also potentially help colleges and universities attract prospective students, boosting enrollment.

“It's a value-add for students when they come here,” Buffalin says. “They say, ‘Wow, I can have access to all this technology?’ And you see their eyes light up, thinking how they're going to utilize it.”