Overview – Athens Makers

Getting Ready for Summer 2019!

Plans are shaping up for Summer 2019! We are excited to officially become Discovery Lab as we become a part of the programming for the Ohio Valley Museum of Discovery. We will continue to meet in the basement of Clippinger (Room 036) on Thursday evenings from 6-8PM with possible special events on Tuesdays and/or Saturdays.

We will kick off on June 6 and go until August 8 (with plans to take Thursday, July 4th off). And save Saturday August 3 for the Second Annual Discovery Fair, a chance to show off things you’ve done during the summer.

For those new to AthensMakers/Discovery Lab, we strive to create an environment where kids 6th grade through high school can gather to explore a wide range of STEAM-based (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) activities. You can wander the web site to see what kinds of things we have done in the past. They include things like 3-D printing, Arduino Microcontrollers, construction projects with the Maker Cart, green-screen and stop motion videography, and more! This year we intend to run a combination of open exploration space in parallel with workshops where those who chose can learn new skills in a guided environment.

At this time the programming is free, though there may be some special workshops advertised that require a special fee to help pay for materials the students take with them.

And as always we encourage parents to hang out and learn alongside their kids!

Summer 2018! Starting Thursday June 7

Summer 2018 Athens Makers is starting Thursday June 7 from 6-8PM, and we will again meet in the basement of Clippinger Labs (Room 036) on the campus of Ohio University. We currently plan to run every Thursday from 6-8PM with the possibility of a few other special events throughout the summer.

As with other summers, there is no registration required and there is no fee. This is a completely volunteer operation, and we operate on a shoestring with some equipment support from the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Ohio Valley Museum of Discovery. Contact Dr. Mark Lucas (lucasm at ohio.edu) to receive periodic mailings about AthensMakers activities as well as related activities that may be of interest.

This summer we’re looking to try something a little different and more open-ended. Instead of a single topic each night, there will be a lot of different options are available each night. This allows the participants to follow their interests better and build up their skill base at their own pace.

As we prepare for the first night, we are looking to have stations that include:

Green screen movie making
Arduino microcontrollers
Maker cart (sail cars, fan cars, judobots and more)
3D Printing and 3D Design
Snap Circuits
Makey Makeys

As we progress through the summer, are looking at adding such options as:

Raspberry pi
Google Voice recognition
Audacity Sound Recording and editing
360 degree photography
Stop Motion movie making
And a lot more.

We are also tentatively looking at having a “Discovery Fair” Saturday August 4. This would be a chance for participants and other community member to bring out their projects and show them off! More details to come.

Summer 2017 – Starting up June 8

As summer ramps up, we are looking to start AthensMakers activities on Thursday June 8 from 6-8PM in Clippinger 036. As a reminder this is available for youth from 6th grade (rising 6th graders) on up through high school and parents are encouraged to hang out and join in as well. Our plan is to meet at least every Thursday through early August. We’ve got a great group of volunteers helping with ideas, and we will be collaborating for a number of evenings with the Ohio Valley Museum of Discovery as we explore some of the Discovery Pack workshops being developed through a grant from the State Farm Youth Advisory Board.

We are looking to start this summer with an introduction to the new “Maker Cart” purchased by the Ohio Valley Museum of Discovery through the State Farm grant. The cart is on loan to the Makers through the summer as we all (adults included!) explore a wide range of possible projects. If you want a sneak preview, you can head to https://teachergeek.com and check out the cart and project ideas. We will start by trying out the air cars, powered and unpowered, as a way of getting used to the tools and supplies.

This will be a learning experience for all of us as we try to figure out how to best handle the use of the carts for future sessions. While we are looking into some way of letting participants purchase their creations for roughly the cost of materials, we need to presume that at this point projects will stay in the lab and be recycled for parts for future projects.

Makers Starting Up June 2 for 2016

We’re looking to start meeting on Thursdays beginning June 2. We will start with an Arduino Workshop for both beginners and advanced. Makers will meet in Clippinger 035 on the campus of Ohio University. In addition to learning about some neat technology, we’re looking forward to doing some building and physical “making” this summer! Stay Tuned and spread the word!

Summer 2015!

Welcome to a whole new summer of Athens Makers! We are still putting together more solid plans for the summer, but we will start with a two-session Arduino workshop Thursday June 4 and Thursday June 11 from 6-8PM. More Maker plans are in the works, so check back for other plans.

Athens Makers

Athens Makers seeks to build and grow together in creative and constructive learning opportunities – for fun.

Check out the web site for upcoming events. The plan is to offer a variety of events and workshops throughout this summer. Check out the posts above for details.

We’re in the process of fleshing out the opportunities for the summer. We are looking to offer workshops and open work nights on Thursdays from 6-8PM throughout the summer with a couple of longer workshop opportunities on Saturday mornings.

While there are certain themes that carry throughout the summer, participants are not expected to attend all of the workshops. Pick and choose what sounds interesting. We’ll try to make note if there are ‘prerequisites’ you need to be aware of.