MakerLabbers Make RGB Trippy Wave Lights

This past weekend, the MakerLab hosted a special workshop led by Mitch Altman. Mitch (and Illinois alum) is Co-Founder of Noisebridge (one of the first hackerspaces in the US) and CEO of Cornfield Electronics (maker of TV-B-Gone). Mitch, who travels the world teaching people how to make things, as been an artist at resident here at Illinois for the past two weeks). In this workshop, Mitch taught a group of MakerLabbers how to create a battery-operated LED light device that flashes various colors (using the Red-Blue-Green color spectrum). This device has an infrared sensor that restarts the color pattern when a hand is waved over it. Using soldering irons, we connected a set of resistors, capacitors, controllers, lights, and a battery to a circuit board. Making these light kits was great fun and relatively easy and is a great illustration of how making things (including electronic devices) on your own can be an alternative to buying things in a store.

Please see our events listing for information about other workshops that we plan to hold this semester. You can sign up to be a member as well, to get invites to exclusive events and get some discounts on your prints. We hope to see you there.

Film & Filament night (Thursday, December 12)

On Thursday, December 12 (from 6pm to 9pm), the MakerLab will host its first Film & Filament night. We will be showing National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation on our big 70 inch HDTV and designing and printing objects linked to the movie's theme, such as Santa figurines and holiday ornaments. This is a totally free event and open to everyone on campus(only 20 spots, First come, first served) . We will also be providing free food. So please stop by for some pizza, popcorn, and plastic! Share the news

Learn, Make, Share at the MakerLab on Fridays

On Fridays from 11:00 to 12:00, the MakerLab will be holding workshops on a variety of digital making topics including, 3D scanning, 3D printing, and how to tinker with open hardware. A list of scheduled workshops is available at http://makerlab.illinois.edu/events/ If you have skills in 3D modeling/printing or in working with open hardware (arduinos, raspberry pi's, etc) and would like to offer a workshop, please contact us at UIMakerLab AT illinois DOT edu. Join the Maker movement at Illinois. Subscribe to our blog RSS feed to be the first to hear about events, new tutorials, and other exciting news from the MakerLab.  Or Like our Facebook page to stay connected and follow us on Twitter.

Grand Opening of our New Lab (October 18)

We have finally moved to our new lab location in 3030 Business Administration Facility! Our new space is bigger, brighter, and equipped with more digital making equipment, including 12 MakerBot Replicator 3D Printers, a MakerBot Digitizer Scanner, a Kinect Scanner, 6 computers, and a one 2D printer. We are open for business and ready to serve the needs of a larger user base. To celebrate our new lab and recognize the generosity of Dean DeBrock for providing us with this great new location, we will be holding a Grand Opening Event on Friday, October 18 from 10am to 2pm. We will be giving away plenty of 3D goodies and offering a free demonstration of 3D design, scanning, and printing.  Please stop by and see how the MakerLab can help you capture the power and promise of 3D printing!

MakerLab is Coming to Chicago

On Thursday, October 10, Aric Rindfleisch, Executive Director of the Illinois MakerLab will be visiting Chicago to discuss the 3D printing revolution and how the College of Business at the University of Illinois is taking a leadership role in this domain through the establishment of the world's first (and only) business school 3D printing lab, the Illinois MakerLab. For more information and to make a reservation to attend this event, just click on the announcement below. We hope to see you there.

MakerLab Draws Crowds at MakerFaire

Last Saturday, Aric, Danny, Nick & Vishal represented the MakerLab at the Urbana-Champaign Mini-MakerFaire. We demonstrated 3D printing, displayed many of the objects that we have printed in our lab, and handed out our famous Illinois MakerLab keychains. The event was attended by a large number of families, most of whom had never seen 3D printing in person before. If you missed us at the MakerFaire, please feel free to stop by our lab for a free tour.