Boulder Mini-Maker Faire 2015: Exploring Awesome.

As a Teacher Advisory Board member for RAFT, I was recruited to volunteer this weekend at the RAFT booth at Boulder's Mini-Maker Faire.  Although I'm relatively familiar with the Maker movement, I wasn't terribly sure what the event was all about.  As soon as I started reading about the event, and the accompanying Innovation in Education (IED) Summit, I was itching to go! 

Although I'd intended to take several workshops, we ended up spending most of the day exploring all of the exhibits and project and whatnots.  What a wealth of ideas!

 Read on for some of the highlights!

* Muscle Wire:
Learning about Muscle Wire at CU's Science Discovery booth.  Muscle Wire (aka Nitinol or Flexinol) is a material that contracts when heated and relaxes when cooled, simulating the motion/structure of muscle.  This material is one of the coolest advancements for robotics, as it can be used for controlling motion, and in load-bearing machines.  I wish we'd known about this material before implementing the prosthetic hand project. 

* Screen Printing with Boulder Public Library
Boulder Public Library had a fantastically awesome booth--with three different activities:  1) taking awkward family photos (with a host of different props!); 2) making LED bookmarks; and 3) screen printing your own t-shirt.  Steve and I both got to choose our own designs and bombard the crew with questions about how to DIY.  I think we're both psyched about creating our own set-up in the future--for home and/or school!

* Athletic Interpretations:  

Meeting and talking with Eris and David from Athletic Interpretations was awesome!  They were at the Faire to share their innovation for boxers which uses a photogate to measure the rate of speed bag punches.  Their company is based in Fort Collins, and they said they'd be willing to come talk with our kids about their project and process.  What a cool application of the circuits we've been learning about in physics, coupled with optic tools!  The guys tried to teach us how to use the speed bag...Steve did significantly better than I did!

*  Learning to Solder with Clear Blue Engineering

Clear Blue is a local company that had a booth to teach basic soldering...even though they were targeting kids, they kindly allowed me to partake!  Steve enjoyed the glasses...

and the product...

*TinkerMill Creations

* Boulder Fire Rescue Pulley Systems:

Boulder Fire Rescue demonstrated how they use pulley systems for mountain rescues, discussing the physics of the tension forces and load analysis.  I need to keep these guys in mind for future guest speakers about the everyday applications of physics!

* Launcher Ideas:
Goalie stick trebuchet?  Yes, this will definitely happen sometime soon!  And, why did we never think to add a toilet seat to make our launchers a bit more cozy?!

* Decibullz Ear Buds & Ear Plugs
Decibullz is a company that creates custom-fit ear buds using a plastic that is pliable when heated in hot water...kinda like mouth pieces. They were selling the blunt end bits from their manufacturing and had a station set up for kids to create their own ear plugs.