Welcome Back: New Faces, New Spaces, and New Adventures!
Welcome back!
It’s so nice to have everyone back on campus! It’s our 3rd year (already!) of making and learning in the TRU Library Makerspace, and whether you’ve used the Makerspace before or are new to campus, we’ve got some fantastic updates to share with you.
First things first: As usual, we’re open Monday to Thursday, 10 AM to 4 PM, Friday, 10:30 AM to 4 PM. Come by and say hello – we’re always happy to give people a quick tour and answer any questions you may have. Anyone can use the Makerspace, it doesn’t matter what program you’re in, you don’t need to have experience, and you don’t need to be working on a class assignment either! Learn more about our mission, values, and how learning happens.
New Programming
This fall, we’re introducing two new initiatives:
- Show up and Make! Every Tuesday (2-3:30 PM) and Thursday (10:30 AM-12 PM), we’re hosting co-working sessions for all TRU students, staff, and faculty. Bring your projects, grab some coffee, and work in a supportive group environment. As the Makerspace Librarian, I’ll be there to provide support, and we’ll occasionally have faculty members from other units joining us to help out as well. It’s a great way to make progress on your projects and connect with other makers!
- Increased 3D Printing Workshops: We’re ramping up our 3D printing workshop offerings this semester. Check our calendar for specific dates and times.
- Working with AI Workshops: We’re also going to start hosting short workshops and co-exploration events to explore the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of Artificial Intelligence. These will be scheduled soon, so check our calendar for specific dates and times.
New Spaces and Technologies
We’ve added some exciting new resources to the Makerspace:
- Community Fabric Stash: A treasure trove of donated textile materials you can use for free!
- Tool Library: Borrow common household, bike, and garden tools using your TRU ID card!
- Circular Knitting Machine: Perfect for those cozy fall projects or visualizing complex data as a scarf!
- Autotune Plugins in the Recording Studio
- Local AI Models for Text and Image Generation: Play with AI without a subscription or sending your data to the cloud.
- Two Sizes of Mannequins in the Textile Room: For all your fashion design needs.
Welcome to Our New Staff
We’re excited to introduce two new members of our Makerspace team:
Jesse Dana: Jesse joined us this summer and brings a passion for digital art and creative thinking. She’s always excited to learn, play, and experiment with Makerspace technology.
Gwyneth Haretzmuller: Also joining us this summer, Gwyneth loves to draw, sew, and read and is eager to learn more about Makerspace technology.
Summer Staff Picks
Our staff have been busy this summer! Here’s a glimpse into what we’ve been up to:
Gwyneth:
- Reading: Re-reading the Dark Tower series by Stephen King
- Playing: Replaying favorite game Tales of Symphonia
- Doing: Swimming!
- Making: Beach bag with fabric from the community fabric stash, trying pottery
- Listening: Metallica and Stritz
- Watching: Season 2 of Interview with the Vampire
Joey:
- Reading: The Way of Kings series (Brandon Sanderson), How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (Walter Rodney), Watership Down (Richard Adams), Games Without Rules (Tamim Ansary), currently reading The History of the Medieval World (Susan Wise Bauer)
- Doing: Riding bikes in the woods with his dog, climbing, learning to play drums
- Making: Building guitar effects pedals, writing music, learning to mix/master music, learning CAD, built a small amplifier for his child
- Listening: Alvvays – Blue Rev, Grat Strigoi – The Prophetic Silence, Occulta Veritas – Irreducible Fear of the Sublime, Thou – Umbilical
- Watching: Aliens, Robocop, Event Horizon, Prey
Olivia:
- Reading: Harry Potter series (listening to audiobooks with Dayun in the mornings in Makerspace!)
- Playing: Overwatch and Valheim
- Doing: Floating down the river and swimming. Beach days with her dogs
- Making: A garden
- Listening: Eagles and Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Watching: Cops, One Piece, horror movies
Dayun:
- Reading: Harry Potter audiobooks
- Playing: Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Animal Crossing: Wild World
- Doing: Walking and playing with her dog, growing a pumpkin from Earth Day event seeds Making: 3D-printed Koroks and plant pots, photographs
- Listening: ‘Artificial Paradise’ album by OneRepublic, songs by Benson Boone
- Watching: Long Legs (movie), Unsolved Mysteries Season 4, The Boys Season 4, See
Jesse:
- Reading: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
- Playing: Fashion Dreamer
- Doing: Baking
- Making: Miniature model bookstore
- Listening: Imagine Dragons new album ‘Loom’
- Watching: Delicious in Dungeon
Frank:
- Reading: Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence by Kate Crawford; The Expert System’s Brother series by Adrian Tchaikovsky; Translation State by Ann Leckie
- Playing: Dungeons and Dragons (for the first time!)
- Doing: Paddle boarding, hiking
- Making: Crepes
- Listening: CAAMP, discovering that I have a very embarrassing love for a genre apparently called “Stomp and Shout”
- Watching: Severance, binging the Great British Bake Off, horror movies
