Hackerspace Happenings: Global Challenge!

Are you a hackerspace member with an event you’d like to publicize? Send it to johnb@makezine.com or tweet me at @johnbaichtal and I’ll post it. Also feel free to subscribe to my hackerspaces Twitter list. Hackerspace Happenings will run weekly Tuesdays.

Global Hackerspace Challenge

Mitch Altman and element14 have teamed up to offer a colossal hackerspace challenge with ten spaces duking it out to build the best educational project that uses both a microcontroller and a power supply.

Ten hackerspaces around the world will be chosen to participate in the Great Global Hackerspace Challenge to create something cool and useful for education. Each of the ten spaces that complete their project will receive PCB layout software, and some nice soldering setups so that they can better teach how to make cool things with electronics. These ten hackerspaces will each get US$900 (or equivalent) and two months to finish their project. Three finalists will be chosen to show off their projects live (in person, or virtually) at the San Francisco Maker Faire May. A panel of geeks will pick the one they think is coolest, and the winning space will win a handmade trophy and bragging rights, a top-of-the-line digital oscilloscope, and perhaps some other way cool stuff.

Circuit-Bending Workshop at LVL1

Louisville, KY, hackerspace LVL1 is holding a circuit-bending workshop this Friday, March 11th at 7pm.

We start by building a simple tool, a Bending Buddy, that will help everyone learn how to solder, drill plastic and mount components. This device will aide in their exploration of circuits. After that, we would have a broad overview of topics that would including basic pitch bends and types of potentiometers, several ways to wire an audio output, other types of bends (distortions, glitches), types of bendable toys, reading schematics, and working with ICs, breadboarding, and prototyping. People are encouraged to bring projects in-progress or any problem-projects to share/brainstorm. Students would come away with a circuit-bending tool, a basic understanding of circuit bending, and some ideas about how to further control their toys with external circuitry.

Global Synchronous Hackathon on March 19th
Global Synchronous Hackathons are simultaneously-occuring, all-night work sessions held in hackerspaces around the world, linked together with a matrix of video feeds. Sign up for the next hackathon, to be held Saturday, March 19th.

Soapmaking Class at Alpha One Labs
Brooklyn, NY, space A1L is holding a soapmaking class this Saturday, March 12th.

New board at HackDC

At last week’s Annual Meeting, HacDC members elected a new slate of board members. Congratulations to President Brian Harrington, Vice President Elliot Williams, Secretary Ben the Pyrate, Treasurer Tim Collins, and Directors-at-Large Bradford Barr and William Gibb!

Hackerspace Forming in Appleton, WI
Distributed Hacker Maker Network is a new group that’s meeting regularly. Follow their tweets at @thedhmn.

Vancouver Mini Maker Faire
Tyson from the new hackerspace Vancouver CoLab wrote in to mention that Vancouver is holding a Mini Maker Faire and the call for makers closes on March 17th.