Month: July 2012

Young Maker Profile: Joey Hudy

In May 2011, when Joey Hudy went to his first Maker Faire in San Mateo, Calif., he didnโ€™t know what a significant impact it would have on his life. For the first time, he met lots of people who understood him, and this brilliant young maker realized his own brilliance. He attended three more Faires […]

Young Maker Profile: Brian Conway

Eleven-year-old Brian Conway makes things that most boys only dream of: boats, air cannons, smoke bombs, nunchucks, rocket launchers, longbows, and a longboard skateboard, for starters. His projects are all parentally encouraged and supervised for safety, though his mom does worry about his penchant for projectiles. โ€œI read how you can mix toilet cleaner with […]

Young Maker Profile: Marc-Charles Morquette

Marc-Charles Morquette loves exploring the inner workings of mechanical objects. Born and raised in Haiti until the age of 13, he began disassembling objects and trying to put them back together again at an early age. โ€œI was always trying to fix appliances, engines, and gadgets that I would find around the house,โ€ he says. […]

Young Maker Profile: Sylvia Todd

Sylvia Toddโ€™s boundless enthusiasm shines through in everything she does. After attending the very first Maker Faire when she was 5, she says, โ€œI began making (and destroying!) things.โ€ She learned how to solder from her dad when she was 7, and since the age of 8, sheโ€™s had her very own show on the […]

How Maker Faire Changed My Life

Iโ€™ve always loved computers. When I was six or so, I realized that instead of making all my Christmas thank you cards with crayons, I could do a mail merge โ€” my mom says Iโ€™ve been hooked ever since. At about 8 I started to rip apart old computers in our basement, for fun, and […]

A Summer of Making

When I recently visited a middle school in Santa Rosa, Calif., I saw no students. None. I learned it was the week for standardized testing. the library and playground were empty. The school was designed for 1,100 students and now serves only 300; 85% of them are low income. If parents can afford it, they […]