Monthly Archives: July 2013

Tell us a little bit about NSF International and your on-site activation at Maker Faire Detroit this year.
NSF International has been testing and certifying products for safety, health and the environment for nearly 70 years. As an independent, public health and safety organization, NSF is committed to protecting and improving human health on a global scale. NSF International protects families by testing and certifying thousands of consumer goods each year, including kitchen products and appliances, personal care products, dietary and sport supplements, bottled water, pool and spa equipment, water treatment systems, plumbing fixtures and many other products used in homes every day. Look for the NSF mark on products you purchase.

NSF International microbiologists, chemists, toxicologists and engineers will lead hands-on laboratory experiments with the goal to get kids interested in science as well as emphasize the importance of protecting public health and the environment. NSF demonstrations will explore polymers, an important building block used by chemists. Kids will be able to help make nylon string, see and then touch polymer foam and elephant toothpaste being made using dish soap, yeast and hydrogen peroxide. Other experiments will focus on sustainable and compostable products.

What was the inspiration for your activation?
We plan to demonstrate how science can be fun with summer science experiments and highlight how NSF International helps protect public health and the environment!

How do you think NSF International embodies the making spirit?
NSF International’s Ann Arbor headquarters houses unique and innovative custom labs, including the largest drinking water treatment lab in the world, and NSF’s Applied Research Center, which performs original scientific research and contract testing for universities, government and the private sector geared towards protecting public health.

What are you most looking forward to at Maker Faire Detroit this year?
At NSF International, we work in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) every day and we are very excited to share our passion for the sciences and public health. We are looking forward to conducting science experiments with kids, and to encourage them to be more involved in STEM.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your projects.
I was once described by my elementary school teacher as a “divergent thinker.” My entire life I have lived with the neurotic tendencies to find out how and why everything works. Being of curious mind, and small financial abilities, I usually try to build my own devices, or set out to create new ones. I am also an avid videographer and photographer, and when the time came to do some more professional looking video work, the steep cost of camera gear hindered my abilities. Most camera gear is quite simple. Rolling dollies are nothing more then Rollerblade wheels and PVC pipe. Camera cranes are just parallelograms with support wires and sturdy yet lightweight frames. Nothing was beyond my abilities as a woodworker, so I set out to make all of my gear myself and save quite a bit of cash in the process. As for the PVC train horns, well that’s just my inner child having a bit of fun The train horns are very impressive not just from a standpoint that they are made of PVC and they are TRAIN HORNS, but also the fact that something so simple and so cheap to make from standard hardware store items can bring such joy. The number one question I get asked about my train horns is “why?” then after I demonstrate them the next question is “how can I make a set?” Continue reading →

Interested in doing a bit of local shopping from some creative area crafters this weekend? Look no further than Maker Faire Detroit’s outdoor midway. Located outside of Henry Ford Museum, this group of crafters has been hand-selected by the organizers of DIYpsi. Like what you see? Mark your calendars for DIYpsi’s next show Aug. 16-18 at Riverside Park in Ypsilanti. Like them on Facebook to stay in the crafty know!

Clothing/Jewelry/Bath&Body

• Blackenedruby Jewelry: Jennifer Lootens
• MakeWan Electronic Component Jewelry: Shanning Wan
• DressGreen: Lauren Burger
• Anymile Clothing: Michael Forbes
• Aromaholic: Liz Drabik
• Planet Pinup: Jean Peplinski
• The Science Bee: Betsy Salzman
• Organic Handcrafted Products: Stacey Sanchez
• Gingerly Made: Leslie Gauthier
• Jozee’s Jewelry – Jewelry by JoEllen Che: JoEllen Cherko
• Geeky Jewelry: Kelly Vanderwell
• Watch Us Create

Continue reading →

Meet Maker Faire Detroit maker John Sugg of i3 Detroit. A participant in the faire since the very first year, i3 Detroit is back once again with a variety of fascinating projects to share with guests. Make sure to visit John and try your hand at his DIY Video Arcade; if you were a Pong master growing up, you won’t want to miss this.

Located in Dearborn, Mich., not too far from The Henry Ford, the Glass Academy has been bringing hand-crafted works of art to the area for the past 10 years. But artist Michelle Pluncinsky has been perfecting her skills for the past 25 years. Meet one of this weekend’s Maker Faire Detroit makers and learn more about her passion for glass.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and Piko Piko Detroit.
My name is Yuuya Masada, founder of the Piko Piko Detroit. Piko Piko Detroit is a netlabel and community for all lovers of pixels and retro bleep sounds. If you think 8-bit, we’d like to be first to what comes to your mind. Continue reading →

During your visit to Maker Faire Detroit this weekend, make sure to stop by and meet one of our exhibitors, Microsoft. We had a chance to chat with Drew Costakis about what you can expect from them in just a few days.

Tell us a little bit about Microsoft and your on-site activation at Maker Faire Detroit this year.
Microsoft is best known as a software company but many of the folks that work for Microsoft here in Michigan (about 200 of us) are very hands on with building stuff in our spare time (electronics, metal and wood working, etc.). We love the maker culture and we wanted to have fun, challenge ourselves and maybe inspire a few young folks to tinker and build with technology vs. just playing games with their gadgets.

What was the inspiration for your activation at the faire?
We wanted to build something that was LARGE and WET and involved multiple disciplines (structures, plumbing, CNC, CAD, graphics, soldering, programming, design, etc.) to build. We also wanted to combine controlling the physical world with the world of the cloud (Azure and Twitter services).

How do you think Microsoft embodies the making spirit?
We love how software allows an enterprising individual (or maker) to iterate, experiment and build cool stuff at a very low cost. Microsoft’s first product was a programming language (BASIC) and we continue to pride ourselves in providing tools for building amazing contraptions. You’ll see how our project queries Twitter’s streaming service, leverages our cloud computing platform (Azure) and interacts with physical controls through the .Net Micro Framework. Microsoft makes available a number of tools for free and some in open source, examples include the free Visual Studio Express (targeted at students so they can learn to program), the Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio and the open source .Net Micro Framework which we leverage on our embedded boards in this project.

What are you most looking forward to at Maker Faire Detroit this year?
Given how hot it’s been in July, we hope that our modern interpretation of a dunk tank will be a big draw!