Greatest Maker Faculties: Kent State College

At Kent State College, the Design Innovation Hub is a central useful resource on campus that gives makespace entry and connects to the opposite makerspaces on campus. What is exclusive is its concentrate on style, design and artwork. On this episode, I discuss to J.R. Campbell, who’s the Government Director of the Design Innovation Initiative, and Andrea Oleniczak, who manages the hub and its ecosystem. Campbell believes {that a} makerspace supplies the on-ramps and off-ramps for a scholar to discover their pursuits outdoors of main. Oleniczak sees the chance to create an ecosystem that features the bigger group outdoors the college.

For a have a look at the Design Innovation Hub, you may take a digital 3D tour.

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I recorded this episode earlier than college students had returned for the autumn semester at Kent State. Since then, Andrea stated that there’s been a “gradual however regular improve in college students utilizing the ability with robust engagement from our Design Innovation Programs.” She additionally talked about that DI Hub is hiring and on the lookout for two assistant managers and a Director of Strategic Communications. They’re planning to double their workers within the subsequent few months.

Transcript: Greatest Maker Faculties – Kent State College

J.R. Campbell: The position of constructing was as a lot about group growth and communication throughout divides. Like working with people who find themselves not such as you and determining how via making you may really talk. After which ideate after which clear up. We additionally realized on the similar time that there have been greater than 25 completely different makerspaces which were created throughout the college that almost all of us had no thought existed.

Dale Dougherty: J.R. Campbell is the Government Director of the Design Innovation Initiative at Kent State College in Ohio. He is without doubt one of the leaders behind the Design Innovation Hub, which opened in 2020 in a renovated constructing that when held the artwork division. The DI hub is a central useful resource on campus that encourages college students to interact in innovation practices and offers them entry to the instruments and a group in a makerspace. Campbell says {that a} makerspace supplies on-ramps and off-ramps to college students to discover and experiment, particularly outdoors their main. Maybe what makes the Design Innovation Hub completely different from many makerspaces is its robust concentrate on artwork, design and style. Campbell is himself an artist with an MFA in textile arts and costume design.

On this dialog about Kent State, we’re joined by Andrea Oleniczak who manages the Design Innovation Hub and its ecosystem. She had as soon as labored at TechShop Detroit. I requested Andrea extra about her background and what introduced her to Kent State, a job she took with out really visiting the Design Innovation Hub.

Andrea Oleniczak: My background in makerspaces is fairly lengthy. I began working in group makerspaces after which in graduate college, I used to be on the UW Madison and ended up connecting for the Faculty of Engineering, Grainger Design Innovation Laboratory, and serving to them.

That was actually a three-year fantastic expertise of studying what it regarded like to include a makerspace actually completely into teachers and into greater ed. Having that have, I used to be actually wanting to return into makerspaces after leaving graduate college with the caveat that I actually needed to have that in a group sense and never have that beneath a departmental umbrella.

And so after I began studying about Kent State, the celebs have been actually aligning for me and I had to determine what was occurring right here. Simply when it comes to Kent State being one thing that was going to be open to the entire group. And actually it was taking a look at forming a complete ecosystem across the maker environments right here.

Dale: JR, so you actually spearheaded this effort to create a a Design Innovation Hub. And it appears like your background’s in style. And which I believe is a extremely fantastic and weird twist.

J.R.: So my my first diploma is definitely environmental design after which I went on and did an MFA in textile arts and costume design. And for me really the broader sense of design and sustainability have at all times been a extremely key to how I’ve explored each my creative work and the usage of know-how, completely different instruments as a digital textile artist. For me personally, the evolution feels pure.

I additionally grew up on a farm and at all times labored and constructed issues. And that, that sort of data, or that the tacit expertise in the way in which that, that helps not simply to make and clear up issues, however to grasp issues and suppose. That’s at all times been interesting to me and one thing that I’ve tried to embed in how I strategy educating design studio programs.

And so I got here to Kent State, with my textiles background. I’ve been affiliated with style packages via most of my tutorial profession. I had been directing a analysis middle at Glasgow Faculty of Artwork known as the Middle for Superior Textiles and was centered on being a Fab Lab, however a business atmosphere and a analysis atmosphere for exploring digital textile, particularly printing applied sciences.

Once I got here to Kent State to Drake Trend Faculty, I used to be already conscious of the vary of sources and the facility of the college, however it hadn’t actually, not less than when it comes to the know-how, it hadn’t actually been coalesced right into a imaginative and prescient. And so I began the Textile Lab within the style college that was Fab Lab/Makerspace to make use of the entire digital enter and output instruments that we might pull collectively within the context of style, each to discover artwork and design and what you can also make, but additionally the the enterprise fashions which might be influenced by being digital. And in order that’s the place it tied into my analysis and work as an artist. I used to be eager about how we undertake and make the most of new instruments, but additionally the implications for us in these contexts.

Dale: So that you have been a part of a bunch that got here up with the plan?

J.R.: I used to be simply gonna say, so we acquired related due to that. I acquired related to folks throughout the college. There have been a core of eight of us initially that have been coming from the, just like the director of the Liquid Crystal Institute at Kent State from structure, from college library, from lots of completely different elements of the college that you simply wouldn’t usually consider as connecting, however we have been all for eager about how we might create conditions for college students to work throughout disciplines collectively to unravel issues. And for me, that began the creation of the style tech hackathon the place wearable know-how is a superb instance that there isn’t any scholar who’s actually finding out the total set of abilities and applied sciences to grasp methods to, on their very own, fully develop wearable tech options.

And it requires collaboration. It requires completely different data units and personalities to make it occur. The idea of how we hyperlink this to makerspaces, I believe as an initiative advanced from actually being about how can we discover cross disciplinary collaboration of the larger issues?

And so in that sense, the position of constructing was as a lot about group growth and communication throughout divides. Like working with people who find themselves not such as you and determining how via making you may really talk. After which ideate after which clear up. That’s the place the core of this hyperlink got here collectively.

And all of us we additionally realized on the similar time that there have been greater than 25 completely different makerspaces which were created throughout the college that almost all of us had no thought existed. And so it was actually about how can we make that seen after which begin to consider connecting it as an ecosystem.

Dale: Every with sort of their very own function and generally departmental focus.

J.R.: Completely. Yeah. All of these, what we now name the DI nodes, they have been born out of their very own sort of tutorial areas they usually’re managed there, however our hope is that what we’re doing as we develop this university-wide initiative is not only creating some efficiencies, possibly an ordering of provides and issues like that, however actually making a tradition of constructing that helps all of our college students and the group suppose extra expansively in regards to the position of constructing and makerspaces. Certainly one of our most conceptual DI nodes when it comes to it being a Makerspace is the land that’s subsequent to the analysis pond on the fringe of campus as a rising area, it’s a sort of making that I believe is exclusive to how we’re approaching this.

However even within the constructing, we now have innovation educating kitchens, kitchens, and we’re making an attempt to assist our college students not less than take into consideration making, not simply within the context of laser cutters, et cetera.

Dale: Give me only a fast strolling tour of your constructing, this new constructing and it’s was opening throughout COVID.

J.R.: Really we do have a digital walkthrough. We did a Matterport scan of the walk-through scan of the complete constructing. So you may stroll via informally. And the explanation that we did that was we couldn’t have a bodily grand opening occasion. And so we created a digital grand opening occasion.

However yeah, so possibly Andrea, do you wanna discuss in regards to the scope of the constructing and what’s included.

Andrea: It’s three tales and the primary flooring is basically the guts of the Makerspace collaborative atmosphere. And that’s what we name the Reactor. So contained in the Reactor, there’s a big open collaboration area that you simply’ll see in most makerspaces. After which there are labs and retailers which might be off to the aspect.

So we now have a laser reducing and 3d print room, a woodshop, a steel store, a CNC lab, an electronics and prototyping store, a useful resource library, a paint and glue store, an industrial bay for giant tasks and a water jet cutter. And that’s all surrounded within the Reactor. Exterior of that on the primary flooring, we now have what we name the Blake Lab, which is basically an immersive area that’s rising into all completely different instructions, however ideally it will contain VR/AR, blended actuality.

Proper now we’re putting in quick throw projectors for a full wraparound projection in addition to sound. After which it has the capability to do a full curtain wraparound. So if you happen to needed to only wrap the black curtain round and simply name it a efficiency and studio area, you possibly can, we even have inexperienced display curtain in an effort to do content material creation.

There’s additionally the designer in residence studio that will likely be occupied and shared school studio. That’s open on the primary flooring. There’s so much. Okay. So shifting as much as the second flooring we now have the admin suites and the DI fellow suite, which is a ravishing area for this system that JR is growing out with the DI fellows. So I’ll let him elaborate on that.

We now have LaunchNet for the entrepreneurial enterprise startup, the innovation educating kitchen, a print lab, which may be very particular to textiles. So we’re speaking a couple of dye sublimation and warmth presses, a gallery. MuseLab, Spark Studio, which is a mini makerspace and the DI classroom.

I believe that’s all the things. I simply needed to take somewhat tour. As I discussed once we have been first speaking to the third flooring is eating which sort of pulls everybody on campus to this one location as the good new spot to eat on.

Dale: So it’s not a brand new constructing.

J.R.: This was the unique college of artwork constructing, effectively initially within the sense that it was the primary one the place it maintain the college of artwork collectively, again in 1972. It was a John Andrews design. And it was a controversial. It’s a really distinctive constructing, has inverted roof traces and was clad externally with Kalwall, the fiberglass sort of translucent supplies.

So through the daytime, the solar infused into the constructing and through the nighttime and the lights have been on, it regarded like a giant glowing dice. And it was designed for collaboration at that time, which was radical within the context of studio arts. And so we took benefit of the footprint and the metal of the constructing, and mainly simply reconfigured all the things else to to prepare it into what Andrea simply described.

Dale: How did you get the administration behind this concept after which get funding to do that?

J.R.: Yeah. Yeah. It’s a very good query. So I’ve been researching this throughout numerous completely different establishments due to how we’re rising. Since we have been a grassroots sort of initiative within the college, and there have been a number of like myself who have been in decrease stage administrative –division chairs and assistant deans and issues like that, that have been a part of that early group. We had some fluency and capabilities. However actually this was an concept that we actually needed to transcend the school boundaries. And our aim with DI is to by no means be a faculty or a level program or a school. As soon as we do this, then we simply develop into a self-discipline once more. And this isn’t, this can be a self-discipline agnostic idea in that regard.

Dale: It breaks all the principles.

J.R.: And likewise it represents one thing that usually just isn’t protected or doesn’t exist within the college. We don’t usually create areas like this which might be unprogrammed, unaccredited, like that. However have an actual instructional function, not simply to be an entry.

So I believe one of many issues that we’re, that we’re actually making an attempt to say is this isn’t only a constructing that’s an open entry Makerspace with expansive considering. This can be a program, an academic program that we consider each scholar on the college ought to have entry to. And it takes benefit of the makerspaces to truly illustrate the way it works.

Dale: I need to come again to that.

J.R.: So as soon as we had mapped the panorama of the college with a few of our pioneering college students and acknowledge that there have been these twenty-five plus completely different sort of makerspaces or useful resource services, it grew to become far more tangible for our president and provost when it comes to how they have been eager about what we have been making an attempt to say.

And, in that sense, by making these issues seen and beginning down the trail of making a DI Hub or suggesting the creation. I believe the president of our college on the time noticed that this was a sort of a game-changer for a way the college positions itself. We have been additionally, this was very strategic, we have been fortunate in that we had a constructing on campus that both needed to be torn down and would have been extremely expensive to do or one thing else needed to occur with it. And. So we took benefit of the truth that there was a time delicate want to handle this constructing paired with our timing for beginning an initiative. We’re in a position to get funding from each the state and from the college to come back collectively. It was a $45 million redesign tasks. Wow.

Dale: How lengthy did it take?

J.R.: It was extremely quick, really. From the choice to do the work to the completion of the constructing, it was simply two years. The method, though it was mammoth, it did go fairly shortly. In some ways, it, it was a fascinating timing when it comes to having the constructing open throughout pandemic, as a result of each different tutorial Makerspace throughout the U S was mainly saying we, we have to shut down.

We didn’t have the funding to have the ability to begin with the workers that we would have liked due to COVID as effectively. And so it gave us an opportunity to dig into the constructing somewhat bit additional and and prepare for this yr.

Dale: You’re anticipating the primary college students about now, proper? To return in.

Andrea: Yeah, completely. So we have been open somewhat bit final yr, as greatest as potential with masking and social distancing. And what that did permit us to do is fold in teams that have been doing analysis. So just like the Superior Telerobotics Analysis Group, we have been in a position to assist them with water jet reducing for a robotic construct, which was fantastic.

So it began small final yr and a trickle. However you may really feel the thrill on campus this fall and it’s fairly completely different than final yr. And so I’m anticipating within the coming weeks, we’re going to be fortunately flooded with college students coming in, determining what this massive constructing is and what we provide. So I’m actually wanting ahead to it.

Dale: How do you clarify it to new college students? You in all probability get some group that perceive it and such as you say, simply burst in and say give me entry, however there’s others like, is that this for me? I might think about coming in from the eating corridor and strolling downstairs and seeing advanced areas and tools that, it needs to be somewhat intimidating to some folks..

Andrea: It’s, however I’ve been in makerspaces for nearly a decade now, possibly longer if I really actually did the maths. And what I’m beginning to discover is there’s lots of change in what the scholars have publicity to from YouTube and among the content material creators. And so it’s not as weird because it was a decade in the past to say, ah, I don’t know what I’d do with a wooden store or a CNC lab or electronics, and now I believe it’s completely completely different. I’m really actually stunned, doing among the interviews with college students, simply how a lot coaching and publicity they’ve earlier than they arrive right here. So lots of them are able to go.

Dale: They’ve had entry to a few of this tools, whether or not they’re in the neighborhood or in highschool.

Andrea: And simply basic publicity, I believe, which is basically fantastic. However I believe we’re in a extremely distinctive place. So though the area is open and free for all to be right here, so as to use the tools, we’re asking that college students attend a one-hour orientation and that I really feel is basically necessary as a result of design innovation is far more than a device, proper? It’s a set of sources.

And so we now have this lovely alternative to say, come on in. And if you wish to use a 3d printer let’s sit down for an hour and discuss all of the sources that we’re going to have obtainable to you past simply this printer. And if an hour from now, you say, oh, all I would like is a 3d printer, you’re completely welcome to come back right here. However it’s this excellent alternative for us to cease and actually discuss design innovation as an initiative, which works a lot additional than the set of instruments that we’re providing right here.

And I’m actually excited to see how college students reply to that this fall.

J.R.: What Andrea simply described, I believe, is the proper rationale for me when it comes to how I consider making as a group exercise. So one of many methods I described this course of is that we’d wish to educationally, what I need to do with DI is present plenty of on-ramps and off-ramps. And that’s additionally distinctive for college students in that proper now, if you happen to’re a school scholar, would possibly like my son’s beginning right here proper now.

You are available in and also you meet with an advisor they usually provide you with a 4 yr plan. You gotta do that, and this to make it via your diploma. And what we’re making an attempt to do with this initiative is say, really, when you’re right here at this wonderful college, have a look round and and discover some issues.

And yeah, we need to make it potential for that scholar who simply desires to chip in and be taught somewhat bit about 3D printing after which go on their means. However we additionally need to hook them in a means that that will get them eager about why. What we have been in a position to set up, which can be distinctive is that we have been in a position to launch a sequence of design innovation programs which might be standalone programs open to any set of scholars. After they’re provided, they’re co-taught by school from completely different disciplines on completely different subjects.

So I believe seeing these issues occurring within the area. One of many issues that’s not usually designed to actively into makerspaces, though it’s gaining popularity in tutorial contexts are the present and inform areas, the gallery model. And though there’s at all times one thing to see in any given makerspace and there are lots of tales behind it. We needed to make that actually intentional as effectively. And so I believe a part of what we’re making an attempt to do within the constructing is guarantee that have been displaying what’s happening as a lot as potential.

Dale: I at all times thought that was on the core of a makerspace is the truth that you noticed work in progress and even accomplished work. Yep. It speaks to you another way.

J.R.: Yep, completely.

Dale: I believe you have been one of many few areas that I learn about that’s actually coming at it predominantly from an artwork perspective or not less than initially and connecting artwork and design. We’ll see engineering and related design and extra usually. The common artist’s studio was a makerspace. An artist is combining strategies and instruments with creativeness and concepts that that make that purposeful.

 I believe it’s only a fantastic and a very style right here a special perspective than lots of colleges might need.

J.R.: Yeah, I believe that’s, one of many issues that drew me to Kent State and the style college was that coming from Glasgow Faculty of Artwork, I used to be surrounded by artistic colleagues and that was wonderful. However as a designer and artist who was working with new applied sciences and eager about how I can manipulate the chemical properties of the inks, or, the bodily properties of equipment, et cetera, I wanted entry to engineers and others. And I believe in order that the scope of the bigger college, however one the place style is, the style college is without doubt one of the largest style colleges within the U S at Kent State.

And so it does have an actual presence right here within the college group in a means that’s completely different than many. And likewise I believe what we’ve discovered or what we’ve seen is that we draw the truth is, in style, particularly, however throughout our visible arts and design packages, we draw college students who’re very entrepreneurial of their strategy to artistic follow.

Dale: That’s a it’s an incredible factor and possibly, a tough factor to, to, speaking to completely different of us from the Midwest, generally, folks concentrate on what, the place am I going to get a very good job? They’re not essentially considering of making that job.

And I believe with lots of these new areas, you want folks which might be prepared to take the dangers and step out and say I’m not totally clear right here, however I would like topursue that.

J.R.: Yeah. In that specific college and the style college, we now have the best share of out of state or worldwide college students as a faculty on the college. And the place the common in all probability throughout the college is possibly 70% of the scholars are coming from the state of Ohio. Within the style college, it’s a lot lower than half. It’s about 46%. And I believe that that’s a part of what I believe we’re making an attempt to do with design innovation is draw college students that we haven’t been capturing earlier than and bringing them in a means that helps to facilitate that consciousness for our Ohio college students, in addition to as others who have been additional afield.

What we’re making an attempt to do right here is basically to consider how can we craft the way forward for American universities in an period wherein everyone knows we’re going to have to vary as a result of our demographics are altering and our bodily sure numbers of scholars are altering over the following 10, 15 years. What’s it that defines us or offers college students an actual rationale for coming right here to check? In the event you select to come back right here, one of many causes within the style college that we have been in a position to recruit lots of nice college students is that we’re one of many solely locations that they may come and have an incredible style training and be an athlete.

And most of our incoming college students are “And” college students.. They’re not simply this one factor. I do that. And I believe once we handle these “And” areas of their pursuits, we really, we’re seeing them as an individual versus a level program.

In the event you’re an English scholar, however you need to do woodworking, what are you able to do on campus? Earlier than DI existed, there wouldn’t have been a strategy to discover that curiosity.

Dale: There’s additionally this hope that somebody that’s in a sociology program or one thing else is available in and sees the know-how might be a part of that each that, that sort of life path but additionally intersecting with different disciplines.

J.R.: I believe one of many issues that we’re making an attempt to get throughout is that Makerspace are critically necessary additionally within the context of social innovation, and non product oriented options. And I believe that’s one thing that everyone feels proper now. And particularly once we’re eager about local weather change and the state of the planet and different influencing components.

However we haven’t actually found out methods to handle that educationally or institutionally. And I believe that’s that’s one thing that’s tied to what we’re speaking about as effectively. One of many issues that’s on the core of design innovation is basically serving to folks in groups to make use of the facility of their variety, to reframe the issue, to see it in a different way.

As a result of we want novel options. And whenever you’re doing that, and it’s tied to an artist like artistic course of you need to have entry to the flexibility to make one thing tangible. So that everyone in that various workforce is like embedding the issue and seeing it from a special viewpoint.

One of many methods I believe that going again to the artist factor is that we really, most of us as artists, we glory in approaching our issues as novices in lots of instances like, like leaping into one thing that we do not know whether or not we are able to really make it occur. And that’s not a traditional conduct for the common physics scholar.

However it might be, and it in all probability must be in the event that they’re eager about how they’re going to radically affect their subject.

Dale: One of many key concepts is that just about a problem your self to be taught one thing new, not realizing whether or not you’re good at it or whether or not the result is what you would possibly count on.

 There’s alternative to be taught like a language that different folks use in a self-discipline and be capable of discuss issues, though you would possibly even be capable of execute the way in which they do, you may discuss to them about it and respect what they do.

J.R.: Completely.

Dale: You’ve talked about this orientation that college students go to. What does it seem like? How do they purchase particular talent units in your area? Are there workshops and issues happening so much along with the orientation?

Andrea: So the orientation is basically simply an introduction. It’s a tour of the ability. It’s fairly laid again. We make everybody do a Lego construct to introduce themselves, to shake them up proper after they stroll within the area. However as college students are at the moment revamping it with a slide present, which is completely fantastic, it has even a Lego countdown in numbers, which is fairly cool.

So that’s actually to introduce the initiative as a complete, to speak in regards to the completely different nodes on campus, to take heed to the ecosystem, the completely different packages that they could be a a part of proper now all the things is fairly relaxed when it comes to entry to the area. So we now have somewhat bit extra of a take the orientation after which join what machine you’d like. We sort of work with you one-on-one. Over time, I believe we’ll add somewhat bit extra formality to that with extra formalized, organized programs and the workshops. I do know college students throughout COVID that have been working right here, spent lots of their downtime, growing these workshops in order that we might begin them.

However the lack of ritual actually had so much to do with the COVID yr. So how can we not take into consideration what I’m used to at makerspaces, which is you shove 20 folks in a course on CNC after which give them a checkmark and say, you’re able to go. However how do you as a substitute have a look at that with somewhat bit extra fluidity to say, okay, we now have two college students this week in CNC, how can we not put a gate in entrance of them and simply permit them to begin having these conversations?

And so I believe we’ll keep fairly fluid this fall. After which as we begin including extra college students who may help construct these programs, we’ll add somewhat bit extra formality when it turns into necessary, or when we now have 100 college students that need to be taught CNC. So it’s fairly completely different than lots of the services I’ve been at and partially that’s on account of final yr and the struggles that we had when it comes to spacing and distancing.

However I additionally suppose it’s a extremely nice experiment to have a look at how we’d be capable of change issues from lots of these formal lessons to have extra of an open door, to let college students are available in.

J.R.: I ought to say to that, simply to provide the image, Andrea selected to work with us with out ever having bodily come to campus. That was at first the primary a part of her place really began remotely, like many individuals during the last yr and a half. However when she arrived she facilitated and reviewed 90 scholar functions to work on what we name the DI Crews, scholar workers. And ended up hiring 26.

And he or she educated every of these college students in groups to start the method, however they really then have been deployed by Andrea to develop tutorials for every of the machines in artistic ways in which could be accessible from their viewpoint. So I believe there’s a wealth of sources which were created to this point. And we’re, we’re simply determining methods to combine to deploy that in context with what Andrea simply mentioned.

Dale: College students are actually one of many keys listed below are getting the sense of possession of the area, the sense of pleasure within the area, a way of welcoming within the area. It’s good to listen to you develop the crew that’s educated to do this.

J.R.: Yeah, I believe that was one thing that we each aligned very well on. And Andrea has deployed fully is that the we have been in the identical means they’ve described variety in groups in a DI context, we actually needed to consider how we might pull college students from any main on campus and get them up to the mark the place the group facet of their involvement, and at the same time as college students who have been chargeable for serving to to facilitate entry to the area, they nonetheless wanted to symbolize the tradition that we have been making an attempt to create round DI.

Dale: I’m actually anxious to see what sort of scholar tasks develop on this first yr. I’d like to see among the tasks that come out of your program this yr and the variety of scholar pursuits and downside fixing.

J.R.: Certainly one of our DI fellows and DI crew members who simply graduated this final yr was again within the constructing as we speak. He’s headed to a grad diploma program in Michigan. And he had an incredible thought, which was based mostly off of what they’re doing at their college library. They don’t cost the scholars to make use of the instruments, however they require them to put up a weblog about what they’re doing.

 That positively acquired me eager about how we’d begin a useful resource that may be a collaborative weblog. In that context, it’s not only a social media put up that such as you have been describing. It’s course of. It’s considering. It’s some pictures and a few examples and possibly it’s completed,

Dale: I respect your time as we speak. I acquired to be taught a very good deal about your Design Innovation Hub. I’d love to remain in contact and listen to extra about it because it develops.

J.R.: Yeah pleased to attach and and keep related in that regard.

Great. Thanks a lot.

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Kent State’s Design Innovation Hub web site

Pictures: Courtesy Kent State College