A Maker Space of Their Own
Georgia Tech’s Invention Studio has transformed engineering education by putting creativity in the students’ hands.
By Craig Forest, Margaret Tate, and Steven Norris
Creativity, invention, and innovation are championed as central pillars of engineering education. However, university environments that foster open-ended, design-build projects remain rare. On most campuses, fabrication and prototyping spaces typically are machine shops where all but a handful of qualified students relinquish actual construction activities to trained professionals.
The desire to make design and prototyping more integral to the engineering experience led Georgia Tech to create the Invention Studio – a 3,000-square-foot, $1 million “maker space” sponsored by industry and run by students. Opened in 2009, the facility initially was envisioned as a place where mechanical engineering students could bring their senior capstone design projects off the page and into the real world. It soon evolved into a “design-build-play” environment for students at every level and across disciplines that fundamentally has changed the school’s culture.
Several key elements set the Invention Studio apart from maker spaces at other schools. First, it primarily is student run; an undergraduate student group with support from the university staff and courses manages and maintains the facility. Second, access is 24/7 for undergraduate lab instructors and other student volunteers who work there during regular daytime hours. Third, the space is available for personal as well as class projects. Finally, apart from supplying their own materials, students pay nothing to use the space.
The Invention Studio has had a measurable impact on student engagement, manufacturing skills, attitude toward engineering, and sense of community. In any given month, some 1,000 students visit the facility to create things for at least 25 courses, hang out, and mentor each other as well as to work on independent personal projects. Student users average 6.5 hours per week in the studio, with 8 percent exceeding 20 hours a week. “I’m very invested in this room, helping other people with their projects,” says mechanical engineering student Joseph Pham, an undergraduate lab instructor who recently assisted a biomedical engineering major with a senior capstone design project. Each room has a sign thanking the 30 industry sponsors that helped build and support the Invention Studio.
Besides the obvious draw of tools, successful maker spaces need areas for students to meet and learn from each other. Peer mentoring is another clear service provided by the Invention Studio, and many student leaders spend more than 10 percent of their time engaging in this activity. Makers Club officer Joshua Terry, a mechanical engineering major, spends a lot of time in the Invention Studio’s 3-D printing room. “I’ve gotten exposed to a lot of things I wouldn’t have otherwise,” he says, citing 3-D printers and laser and water-jet cutters. “They’re all very expensive tools, and the fact that we have access to them — you get experience with industry-grade technology before you even go into industry.”
While 80 percent of student users frequent the Invention Studio for at least one class assignment, many work on personal projects – something traditional building spaces such as machine shops do not allow. This may be a critical feature for long-term engagement of students and community building. Over 90 percent of users reported that the Invention Studio had a somewhat or very positive impact on their design skills, while approximately 88 percent reported a positive impact on their outlook on engineering. Additionally, more than 80 percent of users reported a positive impact on their manufacturing skills and safety.
The Invention Studio’s facilities, infrastructure, and cultural transformation are demonstrating the value and sustainability of hands-on, design-build education to stimulate innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship in engineering undergraduates. To guide others in the creation of similar environments, our AEE article details the underlying motivation, organization, facilities, outreach, safety, funding, impact, and challenges.
Craig Forest is an associate professor of mechanical engineering and founder of Georgia Tech’s Invention Studio. Margaret Tate and Steven Norris are members of the university’s communications team. This article was excerpted from “The Invention Studio: A Student-led Fabrication Space and Culture” in the Summer 2014 issue of Advances in Engineering Education.
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