Makers Day 2017

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
Folks Makers Day is this weekend, check your local libraries for events or this website if you don't have a local program. http://njmakersday.org/content/announcing-nj-makers-day-2017

For those who are not familiar with this, it's a celebration of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), targeted at kids but has an outreach to adults who want to understand more of what's driving today's world. When I first heard about STEM, I really embraced the concepts of the program of getting kids interested in a field which I studied and work today. Also the supplement of Makerspaces (many school libraries/computer labs are been converted), which are places where kids can imagine, create and prototype anything in a controlled environment, fueled what I saw as the future of hands on learning.

Unfortunately, like most programs of this sort, it gets commercialized. I've been disappointed to see that schools are spending lots of money on"STEM" supplies and not really using them as intended or worst not allowing to let kids explore on their own, which is what the Makespaces were meant to do. Buying a 3D printer, green screens, Makey Makey and laptops for every one I feel does not fulfill why the STEM program was originally developed.

Last year I started a pilot enrichment program at a charter school at an at risk district. I had two goals, (1) supplement interest in STEM topics to grade school children and (2) empower teens to make a difference by leading enrichment programs to younger kids. My first goal is in progress and I have just started bringing my teen daughters to help me when I am at the school. Eventually I would like to work with the middle schools at the neighboring districts to solicit more teens to volunteer as well as expanding this to other at risk neighborhoods.

I'm usually asking for feedback at other websites and forums, but I know there are many on mtbnj who either work in the STEM fields, teach for a living, make/fix things as day job and others just like making and fixing things for fun. For those of you who fit in any of the above, how did you get there and what is it that keeps you motivated and interested? As a child, I loved to take things apart; clocks, watches, door locks, mouse traps, etc. But I usually had problems putting it back together and it wasn't uncommon to have more broken clocks at our NYC apartment than working ones. My parents were usually very supportive but there were a few times, when they would come home and scream WTF, e.g., why are you trying to heat up a bullet on the stove??!!

Thanks ahead for sharing your views and experiences. I'm also interested in what your kids, grown or babies, are interested-in in relation to STEM or critical thinking.
 

rlb

Well-Known Member
As a child, I loved to take things apart; clocks, watches, door locks, mouse traps, etc. But I usually had problems putting it back together and it wasn't uncommon to have more broken clocks at our NYC apartment than working ones.

I was the same way as a kid. New toys were played with for a bit then dismantled, and rarely ever put back together. I grew up watching my dad make stuff (he's a metal fabricator) and fix things around the house and work on our cars. My older brother picked up a lot of this stuff and between the 2 of them I always had someone to show me the way when I was attempting my own projects. I also spent a lot of time in my dad's shops as a kid playing with saws, welders, or any other tools I could get my hands on. Working in an auto parts store from 15-23 gave me a lot of insight as well.

I still like to do this sort of stuff (which admittedly is on the peripheral"spectrum" of STEM) for 3 reasons: it's a stark contrast to my 9-5 which mostly involves my ass in a chair looking at a screen, I enjoy the satisfaction of starting and completing a project that uses my hands to make or fix something concrete, and 99% of the time I pay someone to do "manual labor" type work for me I am not satisfied with the result vs $$ spent.

Anyway, thanks for the heads up. I will remind my step brothers but they likely know already, and I plan to bring my kids once they're old enough.
 

w_b

Well-Known Member
Mr B I came in here to post just that but you beat me to it, you readin' my mind...
 

soundz

The Hat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I thought it was gonna be abotu @UtahJoe.
51850_4566320044188_725622258_o.jpg
 

UtahJoe

Team Workhorse
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Someone should make me some new gloves.

As a child, I loved to take things apart; clocks, watches, door locks, mouse traps, etc. But I usually had problems putting it back together and it wasn't uncommon to have more broken clocks at our NYC apartment than working ones. My parents were usually very supportive but there were a few times, when they would come home and scream WTF, e.g., why are you trying to heat up a bullet on the stove??!!

Bc the school bus used to drop me off at my dads gas station...he used to give me old carburetors to take apart and put back together....Reminds me, I should convert the mustang to fuel injection.
 

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
Someone should make me some new gloves.



Bc the school bus used to drop me off at my dads gas station...he used to give me old carburetors to take apart and put back together....Reminds me, I should convert the mustang to fuel injection.

will you do the same for your kids? I had a discussion with a coworker yesterday and parents (including myself) make our worlds so much more sterile than what we did as kids. Every generation, the world loses more people with trade skills. My dad used be build tables and benches with nothing more than a circular saw and a hammer. Nowadays I have a garage full of tools and buy precut lumber from HD. When we moved to Fanwood, first thing my dad did was cut down some trees too close to the garage and made a work bench in the garage out of them.
 

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
I was the same way as a kid. New toys were played with for a bit then dismantled, and rarely ever put back together. I grew up watching my dad make stuff (he's a metal fabricator) and fix things around the house and work on our cars. My older brother picked up a lot of this stuff and between the 2 of them I always had someone to show me the way when I was attempting my own projects. I also spent a lot of time in my dad's shops as a kid playing with saws, welders, or any other tools I could get my hands on. Working in an auto parts store from 15-23 gave me a lot of insight as well.

I still like to do this sort of stuff (which admittedly is on the peripheral"spectrum" of STEM) for 3 reasons: it's a stark contrast to my 9-5 which mostly involves my ass in a chair looking at a screen, I enjoy the satisfaction of starting and completing a project that uses my hands to make or fix something concrete, and 99% of the time I pay someone to do "manual labor" type work for me I am not satisfied with the result vs $$ spent.

Anyway, thanks for the heads up. I will remind my step brothers but they likely know already, and I plan to bring my kids once they're old enough.

I think it helps to transfer the passion to work with your hands when your parents work in a field like yours and Utah's. Our generation, if you don't have hobbies like working on bikes/cars or home improvement, its a good chance your children will show little interest in working with their hands. Maybe our this generation is also partially a result of them seeing their parents always on the computers and like devices.

That's why I really like this Makerspace revolution. Especially if a child doesn't have a handy dad/mom or is interested in wiring a circuit and their parents don't have the ability to show them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rlb

kdebello

Well-Known Member
I grew up taking things apart, sometimes putting them back together, sometimes they actually worked again. I learned what to do right, by doing things wrong over and over again. There was no Youtube to watch. At best, I'd find someone who knew what they were doing and somewhat pointed me in the right direction, but mostly made me learn on my own.

My old man was never really handy and we didn't get to work on many projects together, but my mom for some reason, let me do most anything and mostly let me slide even if I'd start a fire in the kitchen or destroy something in an experiment gone wrong. She did put a stop to the time I was going to make a bomb out of match heads, gasoline, and string for a fuse.

A year or so ago we did a kickstarter type thing for a company called Genius Box. They'd send a STEM based project to you each month with all of the "ingredients" to do a project. The projects were small, not very involved, but if the kids liked it we went and did it on a bigger scale and bought what we needed.

Thanks for posting about this, didnt even know about it. My wife found one at the Bernardsville library that looked like it had a good number of things to do.
 

rlb

Well-Known Member
There was no Youtube to watch. At best, I'd find someone who knew what they were doing and somewhat pointed me in the right direction, but mostly made me learn on my own.


This is a huge thing that no one seems to do these days. I just had this conversation at work last night, no one can troubleshoot a problem. Hit a road block? Guess I need to give up!
 

rlb

Well-Known Member
Our generation, if you don't have hobbies like working on bikes/cars or home improvement, its a good chance your children will show little interest in working with their hands.

As I was finishing my kitchen a few weeks back I was thinking how nice it will be to no have any large projects for a while. Then it dawned on me that I'll have to start finding some new projects when my kids get old enough to watch and help. I 100% want to expose them to this type of stuff, and I hope they latch on to it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: w_b

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
This is a huge thing that no one seems to do these days. I just had this conversation at work last night, no one can troubleshoot a problem. Hit a road block? Guess I need to give up!

This happens so much in the real world for troubleshooting. My daughter is in a competitive robotics club in school and the team is separated into 4 functional groups (design, mechanical, electrical and coding). She's in the design team who are essentially the "engineers" of the project. This year the competition task requirements were much more complicated than years past requiring a lot more collaboration and rework from the teams. In years past, the build cycle was fairly linear going through the groups as I've listed above. But due to the complexity of the multiple tasks and the narrow job roles/competencies of each group they had a lot of trouble assessing problems and finding quick solutions. A good portion of my day job is as a process engineer, and I learned early on that you can't build a robust process without living in the impacted population's shoes. Which is why I tell my daughter to get involved in all the groups, such are learning how to use the CNC equipment, build circuits and to dabble in coding. Without doing it or making it, I find it's hard to design prototypes which don't go through several rounds of rework.
 

Gnick

Active Member
Engineer Here. Bachelors in IE and finishing up a masters in Industrial Technology. I work in the packaging industry as an applications engineer trying to figure out how to build sustainable packaging solutions through innovative materials and equipment. like many of you i've spent most of my life tinkering and loving all things mechanical. I've got a 2 year old little girl now that I'm hoping has some of the same interests.
 

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
Engineer Here. Bachelors in IE and finishing up a masters in Industrial Technology. I work in the packaging industry as an applications engineer trying to figure out how to build sustainable packaging solutions through innovative materials and equipment. like many of you i've spent most of my life tinkering and loving all things mechanical. I've got a 2 year old little girl now that I'm hoping has some of the same interests.
did you go/going to RU, they have a pretty well know program for PackE
 

Gnick

Active Member
No - i grew up in michigan and went to school there focusing on the automotive industry. There were no jobs when i graduated (2006) so i moved to Chicago and got into packaging. Moved around a bit since. I've met quite a few people from RU just being in the industry though.
 
Top Bottom