Technophiles, crafters, and designers of all creeds convened this past weekend in Queens, NY at the Maker Faire, the happiest place on earth for geeks.
From chariot races to soccer-playing robots, cardboard moonscapes to life-size mousetraps, the two-day event at the New York Hall of Science attracted thousands of makers of all sorts eager to share, entertain, and teach others about their creations.
"I use my charger at home all the time," says Nestor Rivera, an 11th grader at the Bronx Guild High School, who demonstrated his homemade solar-powered USB charger by popping in his iPod. Apparently thrilled to be surrounded by like-minded makers, he said, "I've always liked science. But this is amazing."
Imagination and a do-it-yourself mentality permeated the event. Take the 3-D printers generating models of human heads—part of Matt Chernak's display, a project he says he's designed for a doctor looking to help patients. Or Michael Chladil's 4MP, an interactive sound installation which won an Editor's Choice award, where anyone becomes a musician just by pulling on ropes and pulleys to manipulate musical tracks.
As for crowd pleasers, Stuypulse 694's Donovan—a robot the Stuyvesant High School's robotics team built in January—played soccer with delighted roving visitors by kicking a ball back to them. Though controlled by volunteers, the robot can also be put on an autonomous setting, says Doron Shapiro, an 11th grader at the New York City school and the marketing guru for the team.
Doron Shapiro Photo by Lauren Barack
"There's a real-life application by being here," says Shapiro about the Maker Faire demo. "We've been talking to people and a lot of engineers."
Maker Faire grew out of Make magazine, a popular print publication, online site, and now television show that launched as a quarterly in 2005. Owned by tech publisher O'Reilly Media, Make spawned its first fair in 2006 and now holds them in different U.S. cities and the United Kingdom throughout the year. Maker Faire New York was the first for the East Coast.
While the emphasis of the Maker Faire tends toward the quirky and high-tech, it's the kind of event where any creator truly can feel comfortable. Even emergency medical teams sat around knitting scarves out of bright yellow yarn while standing by just in case a jet engine-propelled merry-go-round flamed off course.
It's also where young makers meet seasoned ones—and hopefully inspire creative crafting in future generations.
"You get to see all these different things," says Rivera. "Things you've never even thought of before."
This article originally appeared in the newsletter Extra Helping. Go here to subscribe.
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