By Rina Torchinsky
Professor Emeritus Bill Pugh donated $750,000 toward new equipment in a computer science makerspace in the Brendan Iribe Center and $250,000 toward the coordination of spaces across campus.
The hacker-makerspace, known as the “Sandbox,” is currently housed in a classroom in the Computer Science Instructional Center, and will expand to a larger space, formerly known as the Jagdeep Singh Family Makerspace next month.
“The Iribe makerspace was never designed as a place for computer science students, it was designed for students all over campus,” Pugh said.
The “Sandbox,” which was founded in 2015, invites students of any discipline to create. It was part of the original vision for the Brendan Iribe Center. The workspace opened three years ago in order to establish a culture that could be easily transferred over to the new location.
“We’ve already got these students who have been in this, from all sorts of majors: art students, [computer science] students, mechanical engineering students, coming in,” Pugh said.
Current “Sandbox” equipment, including a sewing machine and stereo microscope, will follow new contraptions, like laser-cutters, saws and a large format color printer to the larger space. The airy space will also include separate workspaces with floor-to-ceiling windows.
Beyond the “Sandbox,” Pugh’s gift will also go toward data collection and coordination among other makerspaces. Terrapin Works will manage these funds with the vision of creating an annual report to highlight campus-wide makerspace development, Pugh said.
“Hopefully in a year or two, we’ll have enough information to go to the provost and president to say, ‘look at all of this stuff that’s happening across campus’ and it’s not confined by major,” he said.
Rick Blanton, director of technical operations at Terrapin Works, who works within the college of engineering, said that none of the past efforts to synchronize the makerspaces have come to fruition.
“Before we were doing it on our own nickel, but this allows us additional time to really refine those things and make sure that it’s set up for a campus-wide audience,” Blanton said.
According to Blanton, Terrapin Works will standardize liability forms and policies to promote consistency and help new spaces develop.
One plan that Blanton said he has in mind for the funds is a software platform called Pyxis, which Terrapin Works has been supporting independently. The “unified software,” powered by student-developers, would use geolocation technology to identify the nearest labs, tools and makerspaces on campus.
Streamlining procedures and improving communication between spaces appealed to Terrapin Works technician and sophomore engineering major Anwesha Moitra.
“I think coordination between makerspaces is really important, because some parts, even within Terrapin Works is made of disparate parts,” Moitra said.