Autumn 2023 Grants
Welcome to a showcase of the incredible projects fueled by the innovative spirit of making@stanford for the Autumn 2023 Funding Round! making@stanford received an exciting range of proposals across 12 departments and 3 schools. Through generous funding from Autodesk and unwavering support from faculty and staff in the community, we have witnessed a diverse array of initiatives blossom into impactful endeavors across disciplines. From technical lab-based courses to pioneering technological workshops, from artistic creations that inspire to community-driven initiatives that uplift, these projects exemplify the boundless possibilities when creativity meets resources. Join us as we celebrate the ingenuity and passion of our community, and delve into the extraordinary achievements made possible by the collaborative efforts of the making community at Stanford.
Find highlighted funded projects below (list always being updated as projects happen):
Resources for Architecture Studio Rebuild
Mirroring changes in the major, the Architecture Studio is getting a rebuild of it's layout. This investment aims to create an inspiring environment conducive to innovation and collaboration in architectural exploration.
EE64: Mechanical Prototyping for Electrical Engineers
EE64 takes students without any prior experience and teaches them to independently design, build and debug cool mechatronics systems. The class culminates in a final project of your choosing -- past projects range from musical instruments to robot arms!
Cutting-edge 3D Bioprinting Course
Making@Stanford is supporting materials and a making mentor for teaching BIOE 261: 3D Bioprinting Laboratory. In this class, undergraduate and graduate students learn to build their own 3D bioprinter and perform research projects in small groups to learn the art of 3D bioprinting. Projects range from inventing new printer hardware, formulating bioinks, and conducting biological experiments on 3D human tissues.
ITALIC 99 Pedagogy Workshop
ITALIC 99 is a series of one-unit Student Initiated Courses sponsored by the ITALIC program. With the support of making@Stanford, we introduced a new pedagogy workshop designed to help student instructors develop and reflect on teaching strategies, both as students and soon-to-be instructors.
Teaching Support for CEE133B: Architectonics and Urbanism
Through the making@stanford grants, beginner students were able to break through their fears of making and complete workshops feeling empowered to design and make projects on a timeline. For our foundational studio, the grants helped to hire a professional model maker to introduce students to a range of materials and model making best practices.
Expanding the Printshop in Any Material
The d.school's new Printshop in Any Material hosts classes and workshops exploring the applications and implications of printed media. Funding from making@stanford expands the capabilities of this space.
Revolutionizing Creations with a Bambu X1E 3D Printer Fleet
Installing these 20 Bambu X1E printers has dramatically increased the PRL's capacity to enable student prototyping, iteration, and discovery of mechanical parts and assemblies. Compared to the previous generation of printers in AMPS, these printers use automation features to improve reliability, speed, and material handling to allow students to quickly realize their visions while reduced maintenance requirements enable lab staff to focus on student engagement.
Innovate and Create at Terman Library
The Terman Engineering Library Maker Bar offers students hands-on making experiences with personalized guidance from trained staff, fostering creativity and technical skills through open access to equipment and materials. Popular 3D printing programs allow students to borrow printers or submit projects for quick turnaround, enhancing accessibility and support for new and experienced makers alike.
Sculpture Lab Assistants
Our vision is to create a vibrant space where art ideas can be manifested in materials, utilizing our multifaceted equipment to its fullest potential. The Sculpture Lab Assistant will work with the Lab Manager and the Sculpture faculty to increase our student shop hour accessibility each week and increase tool specific training and workshops.
Cultivating the habits of making in CEE133B
The making@stanford grant provided supplies and a model making workshop for students to gained strong foundational skills for model making. Students learned proper tooling techniques, and had the opportunity to work with a range of materials. Grant funds were also used to supply materials for our first annual Cardboard Chair Charrette, during which students designed and fabricated cardboard chairs within a 36 hour time frame.
AD Makerspace
Receiving grant money to outfit our making space enabled students to build models for courses such as Responsive Structures. In this course, students translated their models into a full scale installation at the Anderson Collection.
Exploring Material Affordances: MPEAS Redefines Doctoral Study in Humanities
In the academic year 2023/24, the Material Pedagogies for East Asian Studies (MPEAS) initiative offered doctoral students in humanities a groundbreaking opportunity to integrate materiality, fabrication technology, and critical design into their research. Led by Professor Stilerman, the group met regularly to engage in hands-on projects ranging from traditional wooden trays to containers for matcha powder, fostering a new approach to scholarly exploration and pedagogy in fields such as literature, history, and art history.
Architectural Expressions in Wood & Metal
Students in CEE131G created conceptual explorations of form, modularity, and space through learning fabrication techniques in wood and metal mediums.
Expanding Laser Cutting Capacity at the GSE Makery
The GSE Makery provides a wide variety of equipment and supplies to all students, staff, faculty, and community members free of charge. This grant enabled us to replace our aging laser cutter with an updated and upgraded model, which is now used by dozens of students per week.
Musical Instrument Acoustics and Building
Students learned about the theory, measurement, and simulation of the acoustics of musical instruments. A making@stanford grant allowed them to build or modify their own instruments, applying and exploring the theoretical principles learned in the class.
