Makers

The Wonderful Whimsical Instruments of Maywa Denki

The Wonderful Whimsical Instruments of Maywa Denki

By Michelle "Binka" Hlubinka

Michelle "Binka" Hlubinka

Michelle, or Binka, makes . While at Maker Media, she oversaw publications, outreach, and programming for kids, families, and schools. Before joining Maker Media in 2007, she worked at the Exploratorium, in Mitchel Resnick’s Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab, and as a curriculum designer for various publishers and educational researchers. When she’s not supporting future makers, including her two young sons, Binka does some making of her own, most often as a visual artist.

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Maywa Denki is a true delight: a unique group seemingly not of this world and who cannot be easily described. You can call them a “Nonsense Factory“—we have, and they do. If I were to conjure up an algorithm to approximate their well-played silliness, just roll together Devo, Talking Heads, OK Go, Blue Man Group, and throw in a dash of LEGO […]

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Seeking Out Wisdom and Meaning in the Maker Culture

Seeking Out Wisdom and Meaning in the Maker Culture

Wendy Tremayne

By Wendy Tremayne

Wendy Tremayne

Wendy is interested in creating a decommodified life. She was a creative director in a marketing firm in New York City before moving to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, where she built an off-the-grid homestead with her partner, Mikey Sklar. She is founder of the non-profit, textile repurposing event Swap-O-Rama-Rama (which is celebrated in over 100 cities around the world), a conceptual artist, event producer, yogi, gardener, backpacker, and writer.

She has written for CRAFT’s webzine, Make:, Sufi magazine, and, with Mikey Sklar, keeps the blog: Holy Scrap. She is author of The Good Life Lab: Radical Experiments in Hands-On Living (Storey Publishing, June 2013). Publisher's Weekly named it best summer read for 2013 and the book was awarded the 2014 Nautilus Book Silver Award for Green Living/Sustainability.

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While living in Manhattan, I made a pledge to make the goods I need to live rather than buy them. I then spent a decade building an off-grid homestead in the New Mexico desert. I learned to make food, medicine, power, fuel, building materials, and domestic goods. Being a Maker revealed the impact of my decisions, a view […]

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My First Week as an Artist in Residence at the Maker Media Lab

My First Week as an Artist in Residence at the Maker Media Lab

Tom Burtonwood

By Tom Burtonwood

Tom Burtonwood

Tom Burtonwood is an artist, educator and entrepreneur based in Chicago, IL. Burtonwood co-founded Mimesis, LLC a product development company focused on 3D scanning and digital fabrication. He teaches at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Columbia College.

Find Tom on Twitter: @tburtonwood and on Instagram: @tomburtonwood

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I came to Maker Media Lab with a couple of projects in mind for my short stint as artist in residence: Louis Sullivan 3D printed architectural reference book Arduino controlled 3D printer filament pigmentation device 3D scanning with drones During my first week in the lab, I chose to focus on the Sullivan book project. […]

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Biking Across Belgium in Pursuit of Fab Lab’s Future

Biking Across Belgium in Pursuit of Fab Lab’s Future

Miriam Engle

By Miriam Engle

Miriam Engle

Miriam Engle is a professional nomad and the writer for our filmmaking adventure. Since graduating from The College of William & Mary in 2011, she has lived and worked across five continents.

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Madison Worthy

By Madison Worthy

Madison Worthy

Madison Worthy is the director behind Self-Made, the story of creative communities. She graduated from New York University in 2011 and is now on ​a mission to merge her artistic and scientific sensibilities.

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Our names are Madison Worthy and Miriam Engle and we are cycling from Copenhagen to Barcelona to film the documentary “Self-Made”, the story of creative communities, all about the European Maker Movement. We started by asking the basic questions in Denmark — what is a Fab Lab and what kinds of tools and machines are available?

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When the Family Car Is a Solar Powered Boat

When the Family Car Is a Solar Powered Boat

By Andrew Terranova

Andrew Terranova

Andrew Terranova is an electrical engineer, writer and author of How Things Are Made: From Automobiles to Zippers. Andrew is also an electronics and robotics enthusiast and has created and curated robotics exhibits for the Children's Museum of Somerset County, NJ and taught robotics classes for the Kaleidoscope Enrichment in Blairstown, NJ and for a public primary school. Andrew is always looking for ways to engage makers and educators.

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What do you do if you live off the coast of Panama and you need to get the family around? If you’re Jaimie Mantzel, you build yourself a solar powered boat… or three. Mantzel had previously built a 16′ catamaran sailboat with a plywood and fiberglass hull, which he later converted to a solar powered […]

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Watch 24 Robots Compete in Weekend DARPA Challenge

Watch 24 Robots Compete in Weekend DARPA Challenge

By Donald Bell

Donald Bell

I make stuff, play music, and sometimes make stuff that plays music. Fan of donuts, Arduino, BEAM robotics, skateboarding, Buckminster Fuller, and blinking lights.

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Starting today in Pomona California, and continuing through all of tomorrow, 24 teams will put their robots through a series of eight difficult tasks that must be completed within one hour.

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What Is a Maker City?

What Is a Maker City?

By Donald Bell

Donald Bell

I make stuff, play music, and sometimes make stuff that plays music. Fan of donuts, Arduino, BEAM robotics, skateboarding, Buckminster Fuller, and blinking lights.

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The panel discussion on Maker Cities at the Center Stage of the 2015 Bay Area Maker Faire was a comprehensive look at the emerging connection between makers, city government, and economic development.

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