Hardware Startup Lab
On Tuesday April 29th, the Hardware Startup Lab - the first community in London entirely dedicated to hardware startups - hosted their monthly meetup here at Makerversity with 65 guests in attendance.
The meetup featured special guest speakers Brady Forrest, Vice-President of Highway1, as well as Carson Brown and Bobur Ashurov, co-founders of Cliq, “a touch sensitive smartphone case that puts the things you need most at the tip of your fingers”, which they also demoed at the event.
HS Lab is a network of all things hardware startup, covering anything from design and engineering to manufacture, entrepreneurship platforms and funding to wearable tech. Find them on Twitter and YouTube
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Images by David Bellisario
Rob Flowers x Makerversity’s Monster Making Marathon
On Friday April 25th, Makerversity teamed up with our lovely partners at Somerset House and illustrator and professional dandy Rob Flowers, to run a workshop as part of Pick Me Up London 2014.
The Monster Making Marathon invited visitors to join in by imagining monsters, turning them from 2D drawings into 3D models and populating Monster Island with creatures that live across land, sea and air.
We used our laser cutters, 3D printers and vinyl cutter, along with pens, paints and fabrics to create a huge range of monsters with the visitors at the event that over the course of the day filled Monster Island.
Big thanks to Rob for working with us and Somerset House for giving us a nice big space and baying public to make a mess with. Also big thanks to all the volunteers at Pick Me Up for making this happen. You Rule.
Your can check out both Rob and Pick Me Up on twitter - @pickmeuplondon | @hellorobflowers
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Images by 2052 Photography
Let’s push things forward
We have been so caught up in ourselves that we have failed to keep consistent on communications. Well, as of now I am putting a stop to that.
The last few weeks have been very intense and exciting for us. We got the first iteration of the Pearson Lab built, where over the coming year we will be programming a range of events and workshops, but also testing a range of learning through making activities with a range of partners and members coming together to help.
What's exciting is seeing the crossover of skills and ideas already beginning to happen, with lots of members working on projects together, different members sharing work, and also everyone getting involved in shaping the spaces they are involved in.
Additionally, we have had tonnes of fantastic new members join us!
Spaces Design
In the background, we are constantly iterating and tweaking the workspaces as we are learning about our members' needs and set ups. We are trying to adapt the spaces to reflect this knowledge. One of the things we hadn't consciously accounted for was the amount of stuff people who make stuff have. We had some spaces set aside but, we very quickly learnt that people who make things have a hell of a lot of stuff. Tools, books, pens, paper, models, materials - you name it. As a result we are looking at different ways of adjusting our space.
Also we have passionately tried to not enforce a style beyond our own brand on the space. We want the space to have a creativity and buzz from the members, and the space to reflect their work and practices.
As a result, we have decided to move away from the white desks we have in the Old Post Room at the moment and use market stall frames. These will allow storage above the desk spaces and will also have sides on so that work can be put up, whilst also allowing the space to be broken up a bit too.
Workshops
In addition, we have been moving forward with our workshop spaces.
This has been interesting too. We have spaces that are set aside for more messy and loud work - we're currently developing a woodwork room and a loud machinery room. These have been developing and we have been working with MAKLAB and our new technician.
Additionally, the longer term vision for the spaces is to add quieter and cleaner making facilities throughout the spaces, so there isn't such a disconnect between the making areas and the non-making areas.
It's all going on!
The Unseen in Wired Magazine
Pearson Lab launched at Makerversity
Pearson partners with Makerversity to unveil a classroom of the future at London’s iconic Somerset House
Pearson, the world’s leading learning company, is announcing a partnership with Makerversity, a making and learning startup in London, to introduce “The Pearson Lab” - a classroom of the future.
To kick off the partnership, this week, Makerversity and Pearson have begun development of the lab which will be a place to test and develop what a classroom of the future might be. The aim of the partnership is to work with young people, as well as education innovators and enthusiasts to experiment with ideas around future learning spaces - iterating and developing the space based on feedback. Through events, workshops and drop-in sessions, visitors will be able to explore emerging technologies, such as 3D printers and a range of other digital manufacturing hardware - as well as new web, tablet and smartphone applications for education.
“For Pearson, Makerversity offers a dynamic environment to experiment and test creative, fun and effective approaches to learning, through activities such as coding and device making. We’re thrilled at the unique opportunity Makerversity provides and that they share our vision and passion for learning,” said Diana Stepner, Head of Future Technologies at Pearson. “Our goal is to provide greater access to the latest education technologies and develop a classroom of the future for students and educators interested in emerging learning practices.”
“At Makerversity we’re a home for making, learning and emerging practice in the widest context; be it physical, digital or even edible. Makerversity offers space for startups and businesses or those interested in experimenting with new technologies and digital fabrication” said Tom Tobia, Founder of Makerversity. “We’re excited to be partnering with Pearson to develop a learning space for a collaborative community of global makers and problem-solvers, who are interested in changing the future of education for the better.”
The Pearson Lab will be opening its doors to the public in early 2014.
Follow @Pearsonlabs and labs.pearson.com for more on The Pearson Lab at Somerset House.
ABOUT PEARSON
Pearson is the world’s leading learning company, providing educational materials and services, business information through the Financial Times Group, and consumer publishing through the Penguin brand. Pearson serves learners of all ages around the globe, employing 48,000 people in more than 70 countries.
For more information, visit our website and watch our video here.
ABOUT MAKERVERSITY
Makerversity is a work space for start-up making and manufacturing businesses, and applied learning opportunities. We provide access to a range of fabrication and prototyping tools, spaces, event and learning facilities. We exist to support emerging practice, learning and employability opportunities for young people and kick-start the Third Industrial Revolution in the heart of London.
Follow @makerversity for the latest news and activity from Makerversity.
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