You are hereOur area needs a hackerspace, who's in?
Our area needs a hackerspace, who's in?
A hackerspace? What's that you ask? The name might bring up notions of illegal activities or other unpleasantries to some, but that's not what is meant. The Hackerspaces.org website defines a hackerspaces as:
... community-operated physical places, where people can meet and work on their projects.
Eric Michaud, who is working hard to make the Chicago based hackerspace "Pumping Station: One" a reality describes a hackerspace as a "YMCA for geeks and artists". In the "What is a hackerspace?" post on their blog, the description is further refined as follows:
A hackerspace is an interdisciplinary community for learning, teaching, and creating. Instead of starting with a defined range of projects or programming, a hackerspace is driven by its members. It is a place where members have the infrastructure and resources to work on projects that interest them. Hackerspaces promote people to be hackers in the broadest sense: to learn all they can about the fields that interest them, explore their bounds, and create new and interesting ways to apply that knowledge.
The people in a hackerspace also share their knowledge with others who share their interests, through classes, working groups, or day-to-day discussion while working on projects. That is where the fascinating educational potential of the hackerspace lies: there is no finite list of the skills that can be taught and exchanged. People share what they know with members and the community at large, and it results in more people having the knowledge to make something new and tangible out of their ideas and interests.
There are spaces like this opening up all over the United States and here in Canada too, fueled (no doubt) by MAKE: magazine and a renewed do-it-yourself spirit. As far as I know however, there's nothing in our area (for me, "our area" means Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph, smaller towns like New Hamburg, Baden, Elmira, and Ayr as well as all the rural areas inbetween). The closest that I've come across is the Studio 490 in Guelph (who are looking for someone else to work in their studio).
I'm not only envisioning a shared space where geeks and artists alike would be able to work on their own projects in a shared space (loaded with tools). I'm also seeing a community where people would teach each other, experiment, stretch their boundaries, collaborate on great works of art, and be encouraged to take the results of their work back out to the communities where they live.
Such a space could attract and bring together people interested in computers, electronics, woodworking, metalwork, clay, glass, cooking and crafts of all kinds.
I'm thinking that the space should be setup as a non-profit with due-paying members given full access to the facility at any time. There's lots of information available from established hackerspaces on how to run such a space. Hacklab.to has a page on working through setting up a Canadian non-profit. I'm willing to work through the business and legal stuff.
Now, if you've made it through the post so far, I'd like to ask you this...
Are you interested?
I've found a few people that were interested in a local maker group (Doug, John, Ken... you know who you are), but what I'm asking now is going to take a little more effort. The plus side is, that effort will result in a great place to build that project of your dreams.
Leave a comment here or send me a note at onecog2many@gmail.com, and spread the word (blog it, tweet it, e-mail it, Facebook it, whatever). The more people that are involved the better.
2009/03/17 Update: I've updated some wiki pages (setup by William Spaetzel, thanks!) where I'll document information about the setup effort. The wiki is a great format since other people can contribute there as well.
2009/07/16 Update: A lot has happened since this was first posted. A bunch really smart people have got together under the banner of KWartzLab. They're in full membership drive now, have looked at several spaces, and are on their way to incorporating.
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I made the device shown at
http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Solar_design_T-Square basically to figure out what the shape of a solar cooking dish that would cook your food for 2 hours at pretty much even power would be.
It turns out to be clam shaped.
Nobody had done it that way before. ( a couple of solar guys (one wrote a book about solar concentrators) told me that).
Where I live, I will not be able to test it out for real until some time in march when the sun starts shining into my back garden. Would any of your group like to test it? Or maybe model the system on computer?
I do not have the talents to do that. The dish (or approximation of a dish made by cutting cardboard or corrugated plastic) is mounted on polar mount.
Something like this is really needed in Haiti right now. Ordinary box cookers are a bit too slow and parabolic dishes are just too darn dangerous.
Anyway, maybe some of your group might be interested in a high tech approach to designing the dish?
I will do it low tech in March and then tell people where to make the cuts in their cardboard.
You could probably do it all on computer. I just do not know how.
Thanks Brian
I'm not involved with it, but it sounds like you and the Working Centre have some things in common. http://www.theworkingcentre.org/.
... but not really.
The KWartzLab hackerspace (which has it's grand opening soon) is really a space for people to make stuff. The working centre (at least what I read from the about page) is about "responding to unemployment and poverty" where KWartzLab (at least what I read from the about page) is about being "...a social and creative group, first and foremost. We love to think of new things to invent, or new ways to do things"
Hey Michael,
I am totally for this. Please keep me in the loop.
Yes!!!
About time someone brought this up, in a city with a school that kicks butt in solar/robotic/engineering.
I'd be interested in contributing to this, also I have a few tools & materials to donate, depending on what's needed. I do all kinds of stuff...electronic (esp. Arduino), sculpting, woodwork, metalwork, and I need a place to go free of distractions so I can get stuff done!
Andrew
I am a prop builder at the Stratford festival, specializing in armour construction and spfx. we also do welding, vacuform, fiberglass, woodworking..
Sounds Like a fantastic Plan. It is amazing when a few people band together, time is devoted to a project the results which can come out of it.
I am very interested in your group, it seems when I go to start a project I only get so far because I dot put aside the time or need to draw on other people for programing or something I need a bit more knowledge on. this group would be a great outlet for idea sharing, and information exchange. It is also important when setting up a space to consider safety, eye and hearing protection proper use of chemicals, paint,welding soldering fumes, toxic glues.
I am on board
Eric
I wondered if anyone would consider coming in from Stratford... but maybe you live out our way. That sounds great Eric. Would love to have your experience and talents for others to learn from.
-- Michael
Hey, I'm totally interested in this, but I am in Milton, so Guelph could be okay, depending on where it is, but probably not (its a bit far for me to go regularily)
I would be interested in meeting up if there was some sort of get together.
Hey Brad,
What we're planning is most likely going to be in Kitchener/Waterloo. I'd prefer it to be on the southwest side myself (new the University), but who knows exactly where we'll find space? You might want to look at http://hacklab.to/ although looking on the map, that might only be a bit closer.
-- Michael
I've been hoping for something like this. I really hope there can be something in Kitchener/Waterloo, but if its nearby I'd still be interested. I've done a bit of work in a few different areas (stone carving, woodwork, and just a bit of electronics) but I have few years of blacksmithing experience, which is my main thing at the moment. I'd love to find a place to work, share, teach, and learn. I don't have a place I can recommend, but I am very interested in joining in.
Hmmm... now how can we combine stonework and electronics!? And black smithing... very interesting.
Is there anything in the Durham Region?????
It depends... Do you mean the region around Durham (map), or the Regional Municipality of Durham (map)? There's an important difference!
Are you trying to be helpful or just trying to bait him into an argument?
hacklab.to might be the closest according to the list at http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Canada but that's not likely to do. Unless you make regular trips to Toronto or the KW area, you might have to start up something yourself!
I'd be willing to pay a membership fee for anytime access to a place like this.
I think there's enough geeks/nerds/techfreaks in the region to have a critical mass for this.
So just want to voice my support!
Thanks for the support Omar... there certainly was enough response viewing this posting. My site has never seen such a spike!
I'm guessing a meetup will find out if there's enough people to get things going (I surely think so).
-- Michael
I just learned about this place last weekend, when I attended the local woodworking show at Bingeman's in Kitchener. It is the KW Woodworking and Craft Centre, and its purpose is exactly as you described: a common area loaded with tools that charges a membership fee for unlimited access. Their site is here:
http://kwwcc.org/
They are devoted mainly to woodworking, housing everything from small hand tools to industrial sized drill presses, lathes and even a CNC machine.
Perhaps a partnership with this well-established organization would be worth looking into. Add a few soldering irons, some welding equipment and some computers and it would have everything you need to build virtually anything.
It's also within walking distance of my house... ;)
This is definitely something to keep in mind once we have a group formed. I had heard about this once but wasn't sure where they were. I'll have to drop by and see it.
I have to see it myself, too. From the pictures it's difficult to see exactly how much extra space they have in there.
By the way, membership there is $100/year, and it goes up by $5 a year. Currently you can get in on the remaining 3/4 of the year for $75.
OMG I thought we would never get off our asses and get somthing like this going..... Count me in 100%
Cool. A meetup should be coming sometime soon.
-- Michael
I am very interested in this idea and in fact, have already started bugging the guys at KW Perlmongers, who btw are having a Arduino hacking session at the April meeting.
I've even gone so far as to grab a domain name for the KW Hackerspace and group: www.hackw.net
If this is a sufficient group name, let me know and I'll get a wiki up on it for organizing.
Oh, and I've been following hackerspaces for a while now. I'm in #hackerspaces on freenode right now if anyone would like to brainstorm a bit.
Also, I'm nto a student so do not have massive amounts of free time.
Cheers
Bill
Forgot to point out that my nick is "wmat" in #hackerspaces. Feel free to PM me about K/W hackerspace brainstorming.
I'm very interested! This is something that I've been wishing for for years, but have never had the time or connections to try to get it started myself.
If you can find a place in KW that is easily accessible from a major bus route (iExpress, 8, 12, 7, etc.) you can be sure to get lots of engineering students from UW.
Hi Ryan,
I'm thinking students will play an important part and have lots to contribute. Not sure where the space will settle, but the bus routes should be considered.
Here's hoping,
-- Michael
I'm in. We should start with a meetup. MakeCampGuelph, anyone?
I'm going to post a blag up on http://hacklab.to - we've had a few people visit from Waterloo, but it would be great to see more folks setting up spaces!
-Leigh, one of the HackLabTO founders :)
Thanks Leigh,
Much appreciated. Finding hacklab.to was a push for me to think about something in our area... of course the post on Makezine didn't hurt any ;)
-- Michael
Let me know how I can help. Myself and 2 friends have been running a woodworking co-op the past few years so I have some experience. As well, I was involved with a co-working space in Toronto.
Sounds great Brydon!
-- Michael
try http://artengine.ca/ in Ottawa
Cheers,
Tom
Thanks Tom,
I'll check over their site. Looks like we could get lots of ideas from them.
-- Michael
I've been thinking the same thing, that we really need a good shared working space in KW. I'd love to help get one set up.
I was pointed this way by Leigh H. of hackspace TO, and I think it's a great idea.
I've sent a few Perl Mongers your way.
We (kw.pm.org) are branching out a bit, in April we're doing our first Hardware Hacking presentation, on the Arduino. You're very welcome to come to our meeting to meet a dozen or so potentially interested folks (see http://kw.pm.org/ for a bit more detail).
I'll also send along a note to kwlug.org, there is probably a batch of overlap there as well.