Monthly Archives: June 2015

What’s New at Maker Faire Detroit 2015

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Maker Faire Detroit returns to The Henry Ford for its 6th year on July 25-26 with a new location for the outdoor midway, new projects on display and more than 70 new makers debuting in Detroit for the first time.

New this year, visitors will see a three-story Hot Wheels ramp created by local engineer Matt West and his son Blade that is currently going for the world record for the largest Hot Wheels ramp. Visitors will also have the opportunity to get inside a 50-foot motion simulator rocket named the Astroliner. For music fans, Les Paul Sound Experience, a 53’ interactive state-of-the-art mobile experience offers hands-on interactives celebrating the great Les Paul. Also making their Maker Faire debut is Cirque Mechanics. Inspired by the modern circus, Cirque Mechanics is known for its unique approach to performance, inspiring storytelling and innovative mechanical staging through acrobatics and a bit of clowning around. In addition to new makers, Handmade Toledo has signed on to present the handmade arts and crafts portion of this year’s faire.

Fans of the Emmy-winning CBS series The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation will have the chance to see some of the show’s featured innovators at Maker Faire Detroit including Liter of Light, Medical MacGyver, PancakeBot and Solar Roadways. Other special guests include celebrity modder Ben Heck who will be hosting a special display and speaking with makers for an episode of The Ben Heck Show, author and craft king Mark Montano joining the Great Lakes Bead Workers Guild for hands-on demonstrations and designer and innovative humanitarian Dara Dotz doing a special presentation on Field Ready, an organization focusing in on on-demand manufacturing in post-Disaster Zones.

For the sixth annual event, The Henry Ford will be moving the faire’s outdoor midway location from the Henry Ford Museum parking lot to the Lovett Hall lot located behind the museum. The new location provides guests more convenient parking opportunities and easier access to makers located both inside and outside the museum. A shuttle service sponsored by the University of Michigan-Dearborn will also be available at its Fairlane campus located at 1900 Hubbard Dr. in Dearborn.

We’ll be sharing more updates and news in the weeks to come leading up to the faire. See you all soon at Maker Faire Detroit!

Help Make Maker Faire Detroit Incredible

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Visiting Maker Faire Detroit is one of the best things to do in your free time. In fact, one of the few things that I can imagine that’s better than visiting Maker Faire Detroit is being a part of Maker Faire Detroit. We need people to make Maker Faire awesome.

You could be hanging out for a few hours with some of the makers from The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation on CBS like the creator of the PancakeBot.

Or you might help the Great Lakes Beadworkers Guild and their special guest Mark Montano, author, TV Host, and Crafty King.

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Perhaps you like to work with your hands. You could teach people to solder, build a rocket, or create melted crayon art. You could even help them run a Hot Wheel car on a large looping track.

By helping out in one of these areas, you’ll get receive a Maker Faire Detroit t-shirt and a free one-day ticket to Maker Faire.

You can sign up to volunteer here and choose what you will do to make Detroit Maker Faire 2015 unforgettable.

Report from the Field: Maker Faire Bay Area 2015

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The weekend of May 15-17, 2015 marked the 10th anniversary of Maker Faire Bay Area, a flagship festival of the Make movement. I was lucky to have the opportunity to attend the Faire in order to speak about The Henry Ford’s recent acquisition of the Apple 1 computer. On Saturday morning, as I climbed the Make:Live Stage to present images and stories gathered from the auction, its arrival to the museum, and video of the computer operating—I was happy (okay, I’ll admit, even a little nervous)—to see a crowd of over 100 enthusiastic people gathered. The appeal of the Apple 1 and the museum’s excitement about its acquisition was well-understood by the extremely attentive audience.

After the presentation, I had time to take in a little of the festival, and am happy to report that the Maker movement is alive and very well in the world. Here are a few of my favorite moments from the weekend: Continue reading