The Students’ Association and the Brown Library are searching for students to serve on the newly created Advisory Board. The board members will assist in the overseeing of the Maker Lab.
Students’ Association president, Dylan Benac, senior political science major from Boerne, is the head of the search, and is looking for students who will be responsible and genuinely care about the future of the Maker Lab.
“We are looking at all kinds of students who can represent the student body here at ACU,” Benac said. “They need to spend a large amount of time in the lab so they can recognize what issues need to be addressed and fixed. They also need to be able to teach. If someone comes into the lab needing help with the 3-D printer or laser cutter, they need to know how to operate the machine and be able to teach others how to use it safely.”
The Students’ Association office sent out an interest document online for those interested in the opportunity.
“What we really want is for there to be an equal representation of the student body on the board,” Benac said. “We want the board to reflect what we envision the Maker Lab to be like: a place that all students of all majors can come to learn. We want the students chosen to already have an idea of what the maker movement is all about.”
The Maker Lab was created as a 6,000 square foot lab in the library as a place where creation is king, as part of the maker movement. Benac said the idea is that students and teachers can go to a place on campus where there is complete equality to create, collaborate and even learn from each other. Through the sharing of ideas and use of new equipment, they can work together to solve real-life problems in the ACU, Abilene and even Dallas communities.
“What our long term goal for the Maker Lab is, is that students and teachers will be able to see real life problems and think ‘I can fix that’ or ‘I can design a solution in the lab,'” Benac said. “We have people through our partnership in CitySquare who are on the ground in Dallas recognizing real life problems. What if we were able to find solutions in the Maker Lab? How awesome would that be?”
The Maker Lab advisory board is set to meet on Wednesday to establish what the next step will be. The lab itself is expected to open to all students and faculty Homecoming weekend.
