On Oct. 17, 2014 nearly 100 girls visited Sierra College, were inspired by entrepreneurial women in tech fields, made hands-on projects in labs and met for round table discussions with mentors from local companies.
Archive for the ‘Maker’ Category
Sacramento Hacker Lab Hosts Sac Hackapalooza June 14 & 15
Monday, May 19th, 2014Sac Hackapalooza, a youth hackathon will be held at Hacker Lab in Sacramento on June 14 & 15, 2014. This weekend long hackathon and makeathon is limited to 100 young people, ages 12 to 18 years old.
The event is being offered in partnership with Girls Who Code, a national non-profit working to close the gender gap in the technology and engineering sectors.
Hacker Lab’s goal is “inspiring a generation of youth who are excited about coding brings limitless innovation to our economy, creates better thinkers, and allows development of entities that will improve the human condition.”
Sierra College CACT is a Hacker Lab partner and contributed a 3D printer and soldering equipment.
Colfax Grad Builds Bikes
Monday, May 19th, 2014What happens to high school students who have been in classes taught by instructors who have benefited from the Sierra College STEM Collaborative?
In this movie, posted by Colfax math and engineering teacher, Jono Schwartz, hear about a Colfax High School graduate, now a student at Cal Poly, who built his own bike frame as a member of the university frame builders club and plans to work this summer at an internship with Harris & Bruno, in Roseville.
Carol’s Maker Faire Highlights
Monday, May 19th, 2014These are some of the interesting things Carol Pepper-Kittredge recalls seeing at this year’s Maker Faire held May 17-18 in the San Francisco Bay Area.
FeetZ – www.feetz.co or facebook.com/Feetzshoes – 3D printed shoes based on a self-scan of your feet. The shoes were made on a maker-bot style printer and used a soft urethane that, depending on the printing density, could be stiff (for the sole) and flexible (for the upper). This is the first soft material that I’ve seen run in a personal (non-commercial) style printer. Lucy Beard (CEO) had worn her shoes for 3 months and they looked good.
Visualizer – https://getvisualizer.com/ A software that translates images from your phone to Sketch Up.
Camera Sculptura – http://www.camerasculptura.com/ A multi-camera booth and photo translation software to make 3D images of the human body.
Curious Customs – http://curiouscustoms.com/ Laser cut lanterns and night lights. These reminded me of a previous Maker Fair where Adobe had a photo booth and used images to make similar lanterns out of cardboard. These products were flying off the shelf.
Taktia – http://taktia.com/ A software and CNC-enhanced router system to make very precise but human-controlled fabricated parts. This product is incredible – I want one now.
Avava Systems – http://avava.magnuslabs.com/ modular, zero waste building system.
3D Robotics – http://3drobotics.com/ Lots and lots of drones this year. This was one of the companies there.
Q Fusion – http://survey.qfusionlabs.com/qfusion/index.php A start up, they are developing a competitive alternative to the Arduino that has a GUI interface and appeals to those who don’t want to learn programming language.
Sound Cloud – https://soundcloud.com/ Share your music with the world.
Trash Amps – http://www.trashamps.com/Default.asp For those interested is sustainability. Sold in kits and completed units.
Part Fusion – http://partfusion.com/ There were so many more wearable electronics this year, and some were really interesting. I saw an LED vest that was programmed with moving images, clothes with ‘cool LED’ sewn in, etc.
3-DIY – http://3-diy.com/ Another new trend, DIY 3D via your phone, etc. Another start-up, Poppy (poppy3d.com) is pretty cool – works with an iPhone – I’m going to order a couple.
Bootstrap Solar – http://www.bootstrapsolar.com/ Low cost solar charger system (for back country use).
Be3DPrinters – http://be3dprinters.com/us/ A competitor to MakerBot, etc. this is a sleek looking model running PLA. The price point was much lower than the MakerBot.
MCU Gear – http://mcugear.com/en/ A modular microcontroller system – no wiring. The inventor (all the way from Tokyo) has stacked up to 100 boards in one configuration. All are Bluetooth enabled.
Emmett Lalish – who works for Microsoft – http://www.thingiverse.com/emmett/overview We were chatting with this guy as he was showing us his amazing 3D printed designs made on a PLA printer (available on Thingiverse) when some students showed up and said “are you Emmett?” When he answered yes – they let out a loud shout, so I had to ask “Are you famous?” to which his colleague nodded yes. Check out his design products – unbelievable and fully available. The Blossoming Lamp is printed in one piece, and yet it is fully articulated. The other toys are printed in pieces and snap together.
Today is Inventor’s Day
Tuesday, February 11th, 2014What are you doing to celebrate Inventor’s Day today?
- Recall great inventors from the past – Wright Brothers or Edison?
- Use a 3D printer provided by Sierra College STEM at Placer, Colfax, Del Oro or Oakmont High Schools?
- Head over to Sacramento Hacker Lab?
Find out what Quirky is saying:
Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFNaGR3-7Fs
Blog Posts
http://www.quirky.com/blog/post/2014/02/in-honor-of-national-inventors-day/
Sierra College Student Clubs invited to Hacker Lab
Wednesday, January 29th, 2014
Sierra College is partnering with Sacramento Hacker Lab to encourage innovation in the greater Sacramento region. Learn more at Sierra College CACT & Hacker Lab Partnership & 3D Printer Spur Innovation.
Student clubs can arrange special discounts to join Hacker Lab.
Sierra College Center for Applied Competitive Technology (CACT) also supplied a 3D printer and soldering equipment to Hacker Lab so members are able to use this equipment to develop new products.
Sacramento Hacker Lab hosts Cereal Hack Feb 8
Tuesday, January 28th, 2014Sacramento Hacker Lab will host a 32 hour competition on Feb 8 — Cereal Hack. The on-site 3D printer provided by Sierra College CACT will be available to teams to use during Cereal Hack.
Hacker Lab explains how it works: You can “come alone or with a team to get together and build out an idea. If you are looking for people to join your team you can give a 60 second pitch to attract team members. Networking will also be done to meet, mingle, and build teams. Once teams are established, they will begin planning and building out their project. At the end of the hackathon, the projects and teams will be presented and judged in a competition-like setting for prizes.”
How to Fund a Maker Space at Your School
Tuesday, September 17th, 2013Edutopia recently released an article on 6 Strategies for Funding a Makerspace. Recommendations include: Find a space, start a club, get sponsors, seek grants, fund raise online and start a campaign. The article includes examples from California schools that have created Maker Spaces.
Sierra College Arts & Innovation Day is Sept. 26, 2013
Thursday, September 12th, 2013Sierra College hosts “Arts and Innovation” day on Thursday, September 26th, 2013. This new, all-day event is free, open to the public and features lectures, workshops and fun activities for all ages. Presentations will emphasize the critical link between the arts and science, technology, engineering and math. The organizers believe that the arts and innovation are critical to science and engineering, and that science and engineering are critical to artistic expression.
The event will offer a project based Creativity Fair from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, at which a wide variety of student clubs, faculty, vendors and sponsors will provide hands on projects designed to promote creativity and innovation. Additional activities include musical performances and workshops, as well as a Creativity Salon, Art Installation Tour and Scavenger Hunt, Nature and Art Tour, welding demos, and much more.
Sculptor, Anthony Maki-Gill, Carr Wilkerson, System Administrator at Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), Larry Ortiz, director of Nevada Placer Arts Council, The California Arts Project (TCAP) and guest Comedy Improv artist, Brian Crall, join an impressive roster of faculty and guest speakers. The series of thought provoking lectures planned throughout the day will explore the role arts education plays in developing creativity and fostering innovation across discipline, especially in math, science and engineering.
Keynote speakers are Maryanna Rogers Ph.D, Executive Education Workshop Facilitator for the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school) at Stanford University and Director of Innovation for The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, CA.; Kathleen Taylor, Ph.D, professor of psychology at Sierra College in Rocklin and a specialist in Social-Cultural psychology; and Angela Tahti, Executive Director of the Arts Council of Placer County DBA PlacerArts.
In the spirit of “Arts and Innovation” day, the Ridley Gallery will also be presenting “Kinetic Conveyance”, art invented, engineered, designed, fabricated and powered by humans. This photographic and video documentary-image driven exhibition makes visible the thinking, innovation, and collaboration between disciplines of Engineering, Art, Welding, Music, Drama and more. The Ridley Gallery show runs from September 9 through October 3, 2013.
This exhibition focuses on creations for entry into the Kinetic Grand Championship in Humboldt County, California, also called the “Triathlon of the Art World” because art and engineering are combined with physical endurance during a three day cross country race that includes sand, mud, pavement, a bay crossing, a river crossing and major hills. The Ridley Gallery will showcase images from the 2013 race, the prize winning entry from Colfax High School, and the planning stages of Sierra College entry for 2014!
A reception for this exhibition will be held on Tuesday, September 10 from 4-7pm. Ridley Galley is located on the first floor of the Library/LR 102, on the Rocklin campus, 5000 Rocklin Rd, Rocklin. Regular hours for Ridley Gallery are 11am -6:00 pm Monday through Thursday. Admission to Ridley Gallery is free and open to the public.
There is a $3 parking fee on campus. Parking permits are available at dispensers located on the campus parking lot. For more information, Call (916) 660-7242 or check out our website at www.sierracollege.edu . Click on events
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