Worcester Business Journal

12 Worcester Business Journal | September 26, 2016 | wbjournal.com Making space for makerspaces Spaces that give tinkerers, students and entrepreneurs access to a new field of technology are asserting themselves around Central Mass. O n the sixth floor of a for- mer production space near Worcester's down- town, soaring views out of canted windows allow the clanking, clanging and whirring sounds of innovation and learning to float out into the city. Technocopia's new space in the Printer's Building offers the equipment and area to carry out projects ranging from a retiree's dream machine to incu- bating small startups while also provid- ing educational classes to area grade and high school students. The home to advanced equipment such as 3D print- ers and laser cutters is part of a new crop of makerspaces that offer a breadth of equipment that would be beyond the means of the average tinkerer or even startup business to outfit, but through a membership process allow people to access an incredibly high level of equip- ment and knowledge. But Technocopia is just one such makerspace popping up. In the last year, two new makerspaces opened – one at Quinsigamond Community College and a private space called the WorcShop – while Worcester Polytechnic Institute is building one as a premiere piece of a new building. This all comes as schools and busi- nesses are exploring the idea of a ded- icated space to create and collaborate. The exact equipment within maker- spaces vary depending on the applica- tion they are built for, said Kenneth Fisher, a principal at Gensler architects in Boston and the project director for the Foisie Innovation Studio and Messenger Residence Hall at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. That building under construction now will have a makerspace play a prominent role in its configuration when it opens in 2017. There are some universals, said Fisher, who characterized a makerspace as a place to investigate an idea physi- cally through rapid prototyping using hand tools and machines such as 3D printers, laser cutters and CNC routers to create low-investment prototypes. "It's this idea of make, break, fail in high frequency cycling," he said, adding the allure of a makerspace is it allows disparate people to work together. Unlocking your tinkering potential That was the goal for the Quinsigamond Community College Fab Lab that opened in February in the new QuEst Center. While manufactur- ing classes will make use of the space, the real allure is getting all kinds of stu- dents into the space. When students from artistic and engineering back- grounds get together, the result can be something that neither of them would have come up with individually. "We are trying to open the mind of non-manufacturing students to what it takes to design a product and manufac- ture a product," said Damian Kieran, QCC's associate professor of manufac- turing who manages the Fab Lab. That same draw applies to the pub- BY SAM BONACCI Worcester Business Journal Digital Editor The Foisie Innovation Studio at WPI, set to open next year, will feature a makerspace as its core component to encourage students to experiment and work together on new ideas. Kevin Harrington, co-founder of the newly relocated Technocopia in the Printer's Buiding, said makerspaces fundamentally serve an educational mission for their members. P H O T O / S A M B O N A C C I P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y

• Cover