Jim Spencer On the Future and Society for Injection Molding Companies Weekly
The MakerHive is a tech-oriented makerspace in Northern Indiana, aka Michiana. We’re an eclectic mix of different individuals and business owners who meet weekly to 3D Print, build robots, program, design, build, hack, and have fun! We also participate in several community events like Startup Weekend, Ignite Michiana, and local Maker Faires. We also host public classes and workshops that cover everything from electronics to Arduino to 3D Printing. We believe strongly in STEM and STEAM education and are working hard to make a positive impact on our region.
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/themakerhive | https://www.facebook.com/themakerhive
What do you see as the biggest opportunity in your industry?
The world needs creativity and ingenuity. It’s so terribly important to humanity, but we let it grow cold somewhere along the way. Social changes like the maker movement, the RepRap project, and the OpenSource / OpenHardware philosophies are catalyzing the return of the DIYer in a huge way. New technologies like 3D printing and open microcontrollers are the way of the future, AND they’re more accessible than ever to everyone! The maker movement is about to snowball into a gigantic industry, worldwide, and we can help people get in on the ground floor.
What impact will changes in your industry have on consumers? the world?
The maker movement is empowering. Ordinary people can turn a dream into a reality, a real product or program, and it’s never been more attainable than it is right now. Things like 3D printing will change the world’s supply chain. Ideas like OpenSource will spread complex designs and intellectual property across the earth for the good of everyone. People who are on the cutting edge of making and designing will have real hands on R&D experience and technical skills that are missing in the classroom, and we’ll train a new generation of worker.
What is your biggest goal right now?
We’re a relatively small group doing high tech things in the conservative rust belt of America. Our goal is to attract as many new members as we can, share as many new ideas as possible, and eventually reach and inspire everyone in our area. The larger we grow, the greater our capacity will be to collaborate, educate, empower, enable, learn from, and have fun with the other makers in our community. As we grow, we’ll be able to facilitate our members with better tools and equipment in a more productive workspace as well.
What kind of support or types of people do you need to accelerate your success?
We’re putting a lot of effort into our social media presence. Anything that we can do to make the community aware of The MakerHive is a win for everyone. In addition to generating public demand and growing organically and by word of mouth, we need to partner with companies and funds that see the community benefit that spawns from creative thinking and empowering people to make and build things. We’d love to find a donor that eats and sleeps and breathes the makerspace philosophy and can help us scale up into a substantial asset to the greater community.
What makes you or your work different from everybody else?
We have an amazing mix of members, there’s an unparalleled brain-trust in our group. We’ve got electrical engineers, a chemist, folks from the IT world, inventors, tinkerers, and artists. Several of our members have been able to create small businesses around niches in the maker community, and one of our members even ran a successful KickStarter campaign for a machine he invented. None of it would be possible without the group effort and community support that we provide each other at The Hive.
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