Foothill College Makerspace
Krause Center for Innovation
Overview
December 2, 2017 Jim Schrempp
I toured their open house today. It is a very nice, office-like setting. It used to be a computer lab and still has lots of computers on desks. The computers all have Fusion 360, CorelDraw, and Adobe Creative Suite, including Photoshop and Illustrator.
Keith Blackey (former TS member/instructor) is working there.
This place is good, but only for design or hobby work, no ETSY manufacturing.
Details
- Cost per member is $160 per quarter, "including materials"
- Anyone with a Foothill student ID can use the space for free.
- Anyone who takes a class offered at the Krause center can use the space for free.
- They currently have 30 member slots, all of which are taken. They use this to control their roll out. They plan to let everyone join that wants to.
- They have a one year $500,000 grant, renewable at the end of the year. The grant requires them to have one faculty member on site whenever the lab is open.
- Foothill College gives them the space for free
- They are open M-Th 10-8, F 10-6, Sat 10-4
Mission
They are education focused. Small run manufacturing is not in their vision today. Engineering, Tech Theater and Business (Entrepreneur) classes will use the space occasionally. Working to create local Makeathons, Hackathons, etc. to develop local interest in student and community making.
They said that in year 2 Foothill might give them additional space else where on campus and they might add a woodshop or other light manufacturing tools. (Additions would be a full size Shop Bot (4'x8'), MIG welde, and possibly a late) Not sure they will ever be a place for an ETSY user to get 10 hours of laser time to make stuff for their store.
Equipment
- One new Universal 60w laser. Members can reserve it for one hour at a time.
- 2 Dremel table top laser cutters on order. 40w - will be able to etch and cut to 3/8" - wood / acrylic.
- 3 Dremel 3d printers.
- 2 resin based 3D printers.
- 2 Dremel hobbyist tabletop routers.
- Large (24" wide) vinyl cutter
- A hobbyist vinyl cutter.
- A sewing machine
- Tables, but not to make a huge mess.
