A delegation of inventors from MIT was on hand at the White House’s first-ever Maker Faire on June 18. Billed as a “National Day of Making,” the event featured a range of exhibits that included 3-D printed objects, a solar-powered park bench, and a giant robotic giraffe.
At MIT’s Mobile Fab Lab, Neil Gershenfeld, director of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms, and his team showed President Obama items that were created using 3-D printers and other fabrication devices inside the lab. Gershenfeld is the originator of “fab labs,” workshops that are equipped with machines and software that can be used to create an array of inventions.
Other MIT inventors who displayed their creations at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue last week included:
Jose Gomez-Marquez, of MIT’s International Design Center and Little Devices Lab. His MakerNurse project aims to provide nurses with tools to create new medical devices.
Sandra Richter, visiting researcher at the MIT Media Lab. Her solar-powered benches allow people to charge their electronics while they relax in the park.
Manu Prakash SM ’05, PhD ’08. An assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford, he has created a $5 chemistry set for kids and an origami-based paper microscope called a Foldscope that costs less than $1.
Jay Silver SM ’08, founder and director of JoyLabz. Silver created the Makey Makey kit, an inventor’s kit used in classrooms across the country.
For more about the White House Maker Faire:
Read the MIT News story.
See the report MIT sent to the White House on how “maker culture” manifests itself at the Institute.
Visit the White House Maker Faire page.