Makerspaces on Campus

Radford University in Radford, VA, has developed an ecosystem of MakerSpaces to empower faculty and students create the objects of their imagination. Spaces available include:

  • The Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL) New Media Center
    THE CITL represents a base of operations for the convergence of media, design, making, outreach, innovation, research, and creativity-driven teaching and learning.
  • The Department of Design Make Lab
    The Design Makerspace was built to give design students an outlet to realize creative ideas in physical form. The spaces and equipment are used primarily by students in interior design, fashion design, merchandising, and design management.
  • The Peery Makerspace
    The Peery Makerspace grew out of a crossdisciplinary faculty Maker movement, and is an anchor for the university’s Makers living-learning community. Faculty from the Colleges of Visual and Performing Arts, Science and Technology, and Business and Economics are the leaders in this initiative.

In California, California Community College (CCC) makerspaces are creating and sharing a model to fuel job creation and strengthen regional economies. With the CCC Maker Initiative, the goal is to prepare students for STEM/STEAM careers. California Community Colleges are building makerspaces, faculty are embedding making into curriculum, and employers are providing internships. The CCC Maker Initiative is funded by the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, Workforce and Economic Division under the Doing What Matters for Jobs and the Economy framework.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management October 2019 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • R.I. District Holds Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for New Elementary School

    Cranston Public Schools in Cranston, R.I., recently announced the completion of Gladstone Elementary School, according to a news release. The 100,000-square-foot facility serves as a replacement for the 1950s-era former building, and it consolidates the student, faculty, and staff populations of Gladstone and Arlington Elementary Schools.

  • Missouri K–12 District Cuts Ribbons on Two New Middle Schools

    Springfield Public Schools in Springfield, Mo., recently celebrated the completion of two new middle school facilities with ribbon-cutting ceremonies, according to a district news release. The district officially opened the new Pipkin Middle School and Reed Academy on Sept. 3, both of which were funded through the $220-million Proposition S bond program approved by voters in 2023.

  • URI Cuts Underwater Ribbon on New Ocean Robotics Laboratory

    The University of Rhode Island recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Ocean Robotics Laboratory at its Narragansett Bay Campus, according to a news release. Two students used a remotely operated vehicle to cut an underwater ribbon in a 30-by-20-foot test tank.

  • Embry-Riddle Completes Construction on Research, Lab Facility

    Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) in Daytona Beach, Fla., recently announced the end of construction on a new research and lab facility on campus. The Center for Aerospace Engineering II (CAT II) will support aerospace research and technology development and broke ground last summer.