Monthly Archives: July 2014

It’s that time of year again – time for Maker Faire Detroit. Once again the event will showcase more than 400 makers. One particular group, Ben’s Encore, promises to have a special appeal to young, aspiring musicians.

Ben’s Encore strives to provide opportunities for aspiring musicians and music education in Detroit and its surrounding areas. The organization started a few years ago, as a tribute to Ben Borowiak of Detroit, who passed away due to complications from epilepsy that developed after being hit by a drunk driver. Ben wore many hats; though professionally an accountant, he was known by his family and friends as a multi-talented musician and philanthropist. Continue reading →

We’re pleased to have the team behind DIYpsi curate another craft fair within Maker Faire Detroit this year. This is the group’s second year curating our craft sales vendors and there’s a great group coming in to show off their goods to our guests.

We asked DIYpsi members Cre Fuller, Marcy Davy Haywood and Sherri Green what inspires them and what they’re looking forward to at this year’s fair. And we’ve got the lineup for their crafters, too. Continue reading →

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your duct tape prom attire.
Ryan and I are both students at the University of Michigan, where he’ll be a freshman and I’ll be a sophomore this fall. We knew we wanted to enter Duck brand’s Stuck at Prom contest as soon as we heard about it, because we knew it would make for a fun and memorable prom. As we discovered about halfway through the process of making our outfits, our 1920’s theme matched perfectly with the prom’s Great Gatsby theme! Our outfits won third place in the Stuck at Prom contest. Continue reading →

Tell us a little bit about yourself and The Hacker Gals.
I graduated from the MBA program at Western Michigan University (WMU) a year ago and have been excited to be a part of the startup community in Kalamazoo since then. In the fall/spring of 2013-14 I continued in school under the Rhetoric and Writing Studies program and also was accepted into the WMU Starting Gate student business accelerator.

Hacker Gals is a community group of women who meet in a common space to work on projects. Each of the Gals contributes to the resources of the community through sharing knowledge and teaching classes. We have been able to utilize the WMU Starting Gate space for the meetups and I have access through August 2014. The projects we work on include writing a book, building a robot, job searching, learning to crochet, and making old T-shirts into a trivet, coaster or rug. Continue reading →

Tell us a little bit about yourself and Close Encounters of the Synth Kind.
My name is Bubba Ayoub. I’m an engineering student, voracious consumer of media, amateur historian, a student blogger for the Bob Moog Foundationshameless Sriracha over user, and I play guitar and modular synthesizer in ThreeHives and solo as Juggable Offense. Close Encounters of the Synth Kind is a celebration of all things synth, with a focus on modern day modular systems that encompass all the major developments in the last 50 years of synthesis. Continue reading →

We’re so pleased to welcome Siemens PLM Solid Edge software to The Henry Ford as a sponsor of OnMaking and Maker Faire Detroit 2014. Crazy Cart creator Ali Kermani will be on hand to share his innovation story. Learn a little bit more about his journey below.

From big wheels to business school, Ali Kermani, Product Designer and Brand Manager, at Razor USA, and former professional skateboarder, has a passion for wheels and having fun that has driven him to achieve great success. Ali recently delivered a keynote speech at Solid Edge University 2014, in which he shared his journey from young high school student and skateboarder working as a “product tester” and member of Team Razor to his most recent accomplishment at the company: Introduction of the Crazy Cart. This past February 2014, one day before Toys R Us presented Razor with their 2013 Vendor of the Year award, the Toy Industry Association awarded the Crazy Cart a much sought after Toy of The Year award (T.O.T.Y.), naming it the 2014 Outdoor Toy of the Year.

Meet Ali Kermani in person at Maker Faire Detroit, on Saturday, July 26th at 1:30 p.m., where he’ll share his inspiring story, a story which will most certainly resonate with makers far and wide. Continue reading →