The new NYU MakerSpace came to life on September of 2016. The opening was grand with over 300 people from all over NYU and NYC being present for the ribbon cutting ceremony.
But, did you know how the MakerSpace came into existence?
There was a temporary space on the second floor of the Roger’s hall and a makeshift MakerSpace with a couple of Mojo and one Dimension Elite printers was created. Even though it was right in front of you when you came out of the elevators in the second floor, it was hidden! However, 3D prints here were a little on the expensive side, so maybe that was one of the reason why not many students took any interest in the space. Initially, only a handful of people knew about the space, but later it grew pretty popular. Even though it was run by 4 students, it was more of a print service, rather than a space for creating prototypes.
Along with this temporary MakerSpace, was another prototype of a space called the GreenHouse Innovation Space. But this one was at the basement of 6 MetroTech Center. Many students came here to collaborate and build ideas into light prototypes. This was a completely student run space, perhaps the first of its kind in NYU. Many activities including workshops and meetings took place in this space, making this one of the more popular places for students to hang out and ideate. The 2 GreenHouse Guardians (also students) helped the students to create prototypes, organized events, created community building activities through series of workshops and took care of the space.
There was also the Regna lounge, which was perhaps the largest non-auditorium/non-gym space available for reserve. Everything happened here: lectures, club events, exams (wow!)
In early 2016, a plan was made to combine elements of all these spaces into one, and have a single MakerSpace
Now the MakerSpace on its whole comprises of many different areas over two levels:
- The Foyer (For light activities like luncheons, small gatherings, and casually sitting and reading)
- The EventSpace (For bigger events such as talks, seminars, panel discussions, summits, expositions, large gatherings, hackathons, etc.)
- The GreenHouse (For smaller activities such as club activities, workshops, meetings, ideation, collaboration, light prototyping etc.)
- The Electronics area (For performing electronic experiments, building circuit boards, soldering, etc.)
- The 3D printing area (For 3D printing from 5 classes of 3D printers, 27 in total)
- The Laser cutting/ CNC area (For laser cutting flat or cylindrical objects or small-scale machining using desktop Computer Numeric Control machines)
- The heavy machine area (For conducting research, and using big and sophisticated machines for higher degree of precision and accuracy)
There are also shelves to display the amazing projects our students have been working on. All machines are free for any NYU student to use, and we provide them with all the necessary safety procedures and training for usage.
So, what are you waiting for? Visit the MakerSpace, and create something awesome!
