Contact: Susan Lassetter
What: Maker Faire
When: June 18, 1-5 p.m.
Where: Raspet Flight Research Laboratory and Patterson Engineering Building
Contact: Calvin Walker, senior flight test engineer, at 662-325-3274 or crwalker@raspet.msstate.edu
More information: If you build it, you will learn. And thrive. And help better our world. That's the message of the inaugural Bagley College of Engineering Maker Faire scheduled for Wednesday, June 18.
The two-location, open house event is open to the public between 1-5 p.m. Visitors will learn how hands-on education is being used to create a "Nation of Makers" who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty to solve tomorrow's problems.
"We are embracing the concepts of Maker Education to create more opportunities for students to develop confidence, creativity and an interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics-learning as a basis for bringing their ideas to life," said Jason Keith, interim dean.
The Bagley College Maker Faire is split between two locations, each focusing on the tools and results of hands-on, or "Maker," education.
At the Raspet Flight Research Laboratory (114 Airport Road, Starkville), visitors can tour the design and fabrication facility. There also will be presentations and demonstrations of student-created machines including the Formula-SAE race car and an unmanned aerial vehicle.
The on-campus site in Patterson Engineering Building (516 Hardy Road on the Mississippi State campus) will feature a demonstration of the 3-D printers in the Undergraduate Prototyping Laboratory. Displays in the entrance of the building will showcase the student-designed robots, steel bridges and a concrete canoe. Student entrepreneurs also will have displays highlighting their inventions, which have earned funding for continued development.
Presentations, tours and demonstrations will take approximately 10 minutes allowing visitors to come-and-go throughout the event.
Declared the Day of Making, June 18 will see communities across the country holding "maker"-related events. These events are happening in conjunction with a White House initiative to support the Maker Movement--an organized push to encourage tinkerers, entrepreneurs and inventors.
Follow the Day of Making activities using #NationofMakers on Twitter. For more information about the Maker Movement, Maker Education and Maker Faire, visit www.whitehouse.gov/makerfaire.
For more information about the Bagley College of Engineering, visit www.bagley.msstate.edu.