After countless hours of staring at textbooks and laptop screens, it may be time for college students to do some laser cutting.
Luckily for UNC students, Be A Maker — also known as BeAM — can make this possible. Yesterday, the network of makerspaces held a Digital Salon Share Session in their newest makerspace at Hanes Art Center for attendees to share recent art projects and hopefully to spread awareness for Be A Maker.
“We are trying to expose more people to resources and hopefully point them in the right direction,” said Be A Maker Program Manager Michelle Garst. “What makes us unique is that we’re open to all students, all faculty and all staff at UNC.”
Garst said the ultimate goal of Be A Maker is to provide a hands-on approach to learning for students, regardless of major, in a time when most students are required to do the majority of their work in front of books and screens.
“We have artists and engineers working on projects,” she said. “All these majors are collaborating in a way that is not typical in a university setting.”
People of all backgrounds from the University have become involved with Be A Maker, including but not limited to members of the political science, physics and dramatic art departments.
Dramatic art professor, costume design specialist and Digital Salon attendee Rachel Pollock discovered Be A Maker last spring and knew her department could take advantage of the program’s resources — particularly the 3D printing services.
“I remember thinking, ‘I don’t care what — I just want to print something,'” said Pollock, who presented a collection of unique molded masks at the Digital Salon.
Since last spring, dramatic art students and faculty have used Be A Maker’s tools to create props like 3D surface designs and costume animal heads.
