Recently, the Alley makerspace opened in the basement of the MUB. In fall 2014, the bowling alley was set aside to be turned into a makerspace project; a creative area where people can come together to create, learn and innovate.
Funds were contributed from the Innovation Center for Entrepreneurship to help with electrical and any other necessities required to get the Makerspace up and running. In order to keep some of the heritage from the old bowling alley, the original floors were retained. Milwaukee tools donated equipment to the space and ran a workshop with students to build the tables that are now in the space. For the purpose of budgeting, only the minimal equipment was put in. The whole purpose of the makerspace is to have a space where students, faculty and staff can share skills with each other without having to worry about the fear of failure. In fact, failure is encouraged in the Alley because they follow a “you learn as you go” mentality.
Along with a space to work on projects, people will have access to coaches. Brad Turner, a student who has been working on designing the makerspace, said “coaches are in there helping people learn.” The makerspace is there for students, faculty and staff to work in a “culture of making, of not being afraid of exploring, of growing skills.” Ultimately, the goal is to reach out to first year engineering students, although the makerspace is open to all majors looking to improve their skills.
The biggest obstacle currently facing the Alley is the limited funding. With that in mind, the Alley committee and coaches are open to suggestions and ideas that anyone on campus has. Despite being low on funds, they will try to make your idea happen. The Alley Makerspace is still in a startup phase and will work with students, faculty and staff to improve the space. Currently, the makerspace is only open to Michigan Tech students or employees during the regular hours of 4-9 pm Monday through Thursday or by appointment.
