Maker Faire Wayne County is a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity and resourcefulness and a celebration of the Maker Movement. It’s a place where people show what they are making and share what they are learning. Makers range from tech enthusiasts to crafters to homesteaders to scientists to garage tinkerers. They are of all ages and backgrounds. The aim of Maker Faire is to entertain, inform, connect and grow this community.
The Daily Record said it best: “Dubbed the ‘Greatest Show and Tell on Earth’; over 1,200 people flocked to the third annual faire at the University of Akron Wayne College the summer before last. It was a fresh experience with favorite makers from previous years along with new makers and new things to see and do.
2021 goes out with a bang!
Some great Maker Faires closed out 2021. Near the end of the year, the Taiwan Makers Association brings Maker Faire Taipei back to the people in virtual format. Maker Faire Lisbon kicks off its plans to return to the city in May 2022 with a virtual event for educators. Maker Faire Bilbao finished with a bang, while Maker Faire Orlando finished its 9th year last November alongside the inaugural Maker Faire Central Oregon, which gathers makers from across the High Desert region. In December, Maker Faire Cleveland celebrated making all week long. Maker Faire Shenzhen and Maker Faire Rochester kept their respective cities delighted that month as well. Maker Faire Paris had an amazing interactive virtual program that month, too. Keep an eye on makezine.com and Maker Faire social channels for highlights!
Maker Faire Wayne County 2022 is a Go!
The University of Akron Wayne College is proud to host Maker Faire Wayne County for its fourth year, scheduled for Saturday, May 21, 2022 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Plan to attend and plan to participate, it’s free! Maker Faire is all about everyone showing off they are passionate about, their hobbies and crazy inventions. Be part of the fun! Projects of all ages are welcome: adults, schools, businesses, and kids alike. There is something for everyone at Maker Faire! We will announce soon when we will start taking applications.
Maker Highlights
We are proud to showcase Ohio makers who participated in Maker Faire Wayne County. A group of these are students from the Wayne College Engineering Dynamics Class. Last spring, engineering students in the Dynamics class built and flew model rockets, many of which were 3D printed in the Wayne College 3D Lab. Engineering classes at Wayne College have been organizing hands-on activities as part of the curriculum for a number of years. This includes design, testing, construction, and performance of model rockets using 3D printing and other non-rocket-kit materials and methods.
At Maker Faire Wayne County, instructor Scott Gold and his students launched model rockets in a dedicated field throughout the event. Each student had unique rocket design, some quite innovative! For example, Mark designed a complex rocket with embedded wings, popping out to allow the rocket to “float” back down to Earth. The first launch of this didn’t go so well, but the second attempt was stellar! His design worked perfectly.
Another person who participated in Maker Faire Wayne County is student alumni Desmond. He and other Wayne College 3D Lab staff created a model of the UA campus within Minecraft, a popular world building videogame. At Maker Faire Wayne County, attendees explored the world they built in Minecraft and its virtual campus. Attendees were also free to build wherever else they wanted within the environment. This allowed folks to see the possibilities that Minecraft has for modeling buildings.
Desmond is now 22 and is an aspiring composer, active gamer, and musician. He has always wanted to do a build of this scale in Minecraft and was excited to take up a challenging project.
Rounding out our participating makers is Gavin. He and a number of Norwayne Middle School students are makers and wanted to show some of their work at Maker Faire Wayne County. One featured project was the construction of a popsicle stick house with time-lapse video documentation. The house was later enhanced with the addition of LED lights and power door operation, requiring learning to solder.
Gavin is now a high school student and enjoys making things, also learning about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). One thing he does to learn is by taking things apart. Gavin built a 3D printer at the Schantz MakerSpace in Wooster and learned to operate a laser engraver at the Romich Foundation Makerspace (thankfully by not taking it apart!)
If you would like to know more about the Wayne College engineering program, Desmond’s Minecraft virtual campus, or Gavin’s popsicle house, please reply to this email!
Until next week,
Tom