UNT MindSpark

Makerspaces are unique to their community, grow based on the demands of their audiences, and are always evolving to support the cross section of innovation, education and development. In this series we engage Makers from all areas of the maker movement to share how successful makerspaces' have forged their story.

Description:

EPIC is an impressive 15,000-square-foot, multi-million dollar engineering, and manufacturing facility located in the heart of BU’s Charles River Campus. Some of their main goals are to prepare student to work and design for the industries of the future, to enable students to apply theory to real-word problems, provide a welcoming environment to foster innovation in interdisciplinary teams, among others.

Tasker is the laboratory manager for EPIC. Tasker earned his BA from Bates College in studio and performing arts, followed by an Associate of Applied Science degree from Dunwoody College of Technology with a concentration in Machine Tool Technology. A love of design, fabrication and technology led to positions in a variety of industries – including special effects for television, toy design, 3D printing and product design. After serving as the Mechanical Prototyping Lead at Continuum, a global innovation and design consultancy (www.continuuminnovation.com), he turned to the field of education – where he served as a Technical Instructor at MIT for several years, mentoring students in the practical application of new technology and the process of iterative prototype development. He lives in Natick Massachusetts with his wife, two boys, two cats, and a dusty barn full of pinball machines.

Host: Jerry Johnson

Producer: Jerry Johnson

Editor: Jerry Johnson

Executive Producers: Alondra Lopez, Jake Jacobson, Judy Hunter

Music: Lofi Chill by FASSounds on Pixabay https://pixabay.com/music/beats-lofi-chill-140858/

In this series, we take some time with an team member from the Spark at the University of North Texas and share a bit about them, including how they got into making/creating to find their unique spark. In this episode we met with Liberty....

Guest Bio: Hello, my name is Grant Guedry and I am one of the makers at The Spark. I'm a junior Biomedical Engineering major with a minor in Biology and Mathematics. At The Spark, I specialize in 3D printing and physical making such as woodworking, etc. I love to design in CAD and print or render the things I have designed.

Music: Silver Rain by Gabriel Douglas from Pixabay

Hosted by: Jerry Johnson, Spark Knowledgist 2022

Sound Production: Jerry Johnson

Producers: Judy Hunter, Jake Jacobson, A

In this series, we take some time with an team member from the Spark at the University of North Texas and share a bit about them, including how they got into making/creating to find their unique spark. In this episode we met with Liberty....

Guest Bio: Hi! My name is Abbi Luton. I am a Mechanical Engineering Technology major and am planning to earn a minor in French. I just started working at the Spark Service Desk about a month ago, but I am being trained on equipment in the Spark Makerspace. I am quite the novice, but I am enjoying learning at the makerspace.

Music: "Urban" By SergeQuadrado from Pixabay

Hosted by: Jerry Johnson, Spark Knowledgist 2022

Sound Production: Jerry Johnson

Producers: Judy Hunter, Jake Jacobson, A

In this series, we take some time with an team member from the Spark at the University of North Texas and share a bit about them, including how they got into making/creating to find their unique spark. In this episode we met with Liberty....

Guest Bio: Hey there! My name is Liberty Walker. I am about to start my third year at UNT, majoring in Linguistics and Japanese. I am a somewhat new maker here, starting to learn about machines around the space. I already have the Cricut down, along with the Serger and a sewing machine. I am excited to learn all I can working here.

Music: "Cool Jazz Loops" by JuliusH from Pixabay

Hosted by: Jerry Johnson, Spark Knowledgist 2022

Sound Production: Jerry Johnson

Producers: Judy Hunter, Jake Jacobson, Alondra Lopez

Guest Bio: Hello! My name is Aiden Pacheco. I just finished my third year here at UNT, majoring in Media Arts and minoring in New Media Arts. I'm currently one of the senior makers at The Spark and I specialize in our 3D printing services and teach multiple workshops on software such as Blender, SketchUp, the Adobe suite, and more.

Hosted by: Madan Mohan, Spark Specialist 2022

Sound Production: Jake Jacobson

Producers: Judy Hunter, Jake Jacobson, Alondra Lopez

This part 2 of the sessions with the energized, knowledgeable and maker minded individuals from the UTEP Makerspace.

Hosted by: Madan Mohan, Spark Specialist 2022

Guests:

George Molina

George Molina is a Junior majoring in Computer Science studying at the University of Texas at El Paso with a specialization for video game development. His specialty is creating new experiences for students in game design, this includes Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality.

He currently works at the University as an Enterprise Mc/Pc Support Specialist where he helps manage the GAIA makerspace, working on student/resource development as well as assist in managing the department’s campus wide classroom support operations.

Alongside his regular duties he is the President/Founder of Bandit Game Studio, a game development studio organization operating out of the university. The game studio focuses on creating games that are not only fun but challenging for members to develop, this includes developing for Extended Reality platforms. In conjunction with creating games the studio also focuses on providing educational opportunities for members of the community to learn about game development, examples include giving workshops on game development related topics and giving week long trainings to local k-12 educators on gamification in the classroom.

But his passion for game development does not end there, he is also a Research Assistant with the Computer Science department at the university, working on developing a game to help encourage bilingual (specifically Spanish - English) middle school students to join STEM related fields. His team working with a local school district to incorporate the game into their curriculum.

Alejandra Maciel

Alejandra Maciel is a Computer Scientist, currently working on getting her Masters degree. She works as an Instructional Technologist within Learning Environments (LE) at the University of Texas at El Paso. At LE she helps manage the GAIA Makerspace, as well assist faculty enhance and adapt their course curriculums to be innovative and immerse the technologies and resources provided by GAIA. She also works developing new Audio Visual (AV) systems to path the way for a “Connected” education model, which allows all classes, meetings, workshops and events to be hybrid and extends the audience reach.

Throughout her time working for LE, she has developed skills in 3D design and 3D printing, as well as in fabrication tools, computerized control machines such as CNC and laser engraving, among others. She is also certified as a Q-SYS Reflect Enterprise Manager Technician, Extron AV Associate, Extron Control Specialist and Apple Teacher.

Aside from her work endeavors, Alejandra is a Co-Founder and Administrative Studio Head of Bandit Game Studio. Bandit is a college student-led Game Development student organization with a real industry-based structure that was founded in the middle of the pandemic on 2020. The organization focuses on mentoring members acquire the necessary skills to start developing and providing resources and opportunities to the community, El Paso, Texas. The organization has deployed an Augmented Reality mobile application for the makerspace and is currently working on a Virtual Reality game, both in which Alejandra contributed as an Animator, Web Developer and Programmer.

Randy Anaya

Randy Anaya is an Instructional Technologist in the Learning Environments Department at the University of Texas at El Paso. He Received a Masters of Interdisciplinary Studies with an emphasis on the use of Art and Technology in Teaching and Learning in UTEP, a BA in Media Advertising at UTEP and a BFA in Graphic Design with a minor in Multimedia design from the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Randy works on research and development of applying the creative process, career exploration, resiliency and

This one of 2 sessions with the energized, knowledgeable and maker minded individuals from the UTEP Makerspace.

Hosted by: Madan Mohan, Spark Specialist 2022

Guests:

George Molina

George Molina is a Junior majoring in Computer Science studying at the University of Texas at El Paso with a specialization for video game development. His specialty is creating new experiences for students in game design, this includes Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality.

He currently works at the University as an Enterprise Mc/Pc Support Specialist where he helps manage the GAIA makerspace, working on student/resource development as well as assist in managing the department’s campus wide classroom support operations.

Alongside his regular duties he is the President/Founder of Bandit Game Studio, a game development studio organization operating out of the university. The game studio focuses on creating games that are not only fun but challenging for members to develop, this includes developing for Extended Reality platforms. In conjunction with creating games the studio also focuses on providing educational opportunities for members of the community to learn about game development, examples include giving workshops on game development related topics and giving week long trainings to local k-12 educators on gamification in the classroom.

But his passion for game development does not end there, he is also a Research Assistant with the Computer Science department at the university, working on developing a game to help encourage bilingual (specifically Spanish - English) middle school students to join STEM related fields. His team working with a local school district to incorporate the game into their curriculum.

Alejandra Maciel

Alejandra Maciel is a Computer Scientist, currently working on getting her Masters degree. She works as an Instructional Technologist within Learning Environments (LE) at the University of Texas at El Paso. At LE she helps manage the GAIA Makerspace, as well assist faculty enhance and adapt their course curriculums to be innovative and immerse the technologies and resources provided by GAIA. She also works developing new Audio Visual (AV) systems to path the way for a “Connected” education model, which allows all classes, meetings, workshops and events to be hybrid and extends the audience reach.

Throughout her time working for LE, she has developed skills in 3D design and 3D printing, as well as in fabrication tools, computerized control machines such as CNC and laser engraving, among others. She is also certified as a Q-SYS Reflect Enterprise Manager Technician, Extron AV Associate, Extron Control Specialist and Apple Teacher.

Aside from her work endeavors, Alejandra is a Co-Founder and Administrative Studio Head of Bandit Game Studio. Bandit is a college student-led Game Development student organization with a real industry-based structure that was founded in the middle of the pandemic on 2020. The organization focuses on mentoring members acquire the necessary skills to start developing and providing resources and opportunities to the community, El Paso, Texas. The organization has deployed an Augmented Reality mobile application for the makerspace and is currently working on a Virtual Reality game, both in which Alejandra contributed as an Animator, Web Developer and Programmer.

Randy Anaya

Randy Anaya is an Instructional Technologist in the Learning Environments Department at the University of Texas at El Paso. He Received a Masters of Interdisciplinary Studies with an emphasis on the use of Art and Technology in Teaching and Learning in UTEP, a BA in Media Advertising at UTEP and a BFA in Graphic Design with a minor in Multimedia design from the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Randy works on research and development of applying the creative process, career exploration, res

The University of Texas at Arlington FabLab

The maker movement has sparked a need for multidisciplinary centers of creativity across the globe. These creative centers -commonly called makerspaces, come to life with the cumulation of tools and resources that foster making through hands-on learning.

Located in Arlington, Tx the UTA FabLab is a prime example of such creative hubs for students. Here, students can fabricate computer-aided designs (CAD) through 3D printing, cut and etch with CNC machines, work with textiles through sewing and embroidering, and so much more. The UTA FabLab is highlighted as being the first MIT-affiliated Fab Lab in a Texas university and has helped ignite the spread of makerspaces.  

In this podcast series, we will take a deep dive into the world of making and explore the inspiration, drawbacks and success stories of makerspaces in higher education and beyond.

Guests:

Morgan Chivers graduated from San Jose State University (2011) with four simultaneously conferred degrees: BA History, BA Global Studies, BFA Photography, BFA Spatial Arts (minors: Anthropology, Music, Religious Studies, German, Environmental Studies). Morgan earned an MFA in Glass/Intermedia (2015) at the University of Texas Arlington, where he is now the FabLab librarian and artist-in-residence, collaborating with faculty to integrate making and digital fabrication into curriculum across a beautifully diverse campus. As an author, Morgan has published about his studio practice, pedagogy, and the innovative work of the UTA FabLab, regularly presenting at conferences nationally and internationally. 

Jeffrey McCulley is the FabLab Coordinator of the UTA FabLab at the University of Texas at Arlington. He graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling. While attending grad school, he worked at the UNT makerspace as a student worker and fell in love how makerspaces are uniquely placed to enable people from all backgrounds to come together to learn new things, collaborate on ideas and projects, and use equipment they normally wouldn’t be able to access. Jeffrey now works in the UTA FabLab to coordinate outreach events for community members and supervise student employees while helping to further develop their skill sets and abilities as student leaders.

Katie Musick Peery is the director of the UTA FabLab at the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries. She provides leadership around the development, management, and continuous improvement of the lab.  Katie has published on diversifying makerspace student hiring and best practices for makerspace training to increase the impact and efficacy that makerspaces can have on a college campus.  Her grant work and research are primarily focused on integrating maker literacies into higher education curricula.

Host Team: JP Abah and Danielle Da Costa

Sound Production: Steven Sparkman

Producer: Judy Hunter

Join the MindSpark Podcast team on a journey to explore maker mindsets across generations. We’ll speak to a multigenerational family who instilled a tinkering, explorative approach to navigating the world and mindset in their home. In this episode our guest will talk about the ways creating and making have influenced them and their family.

Guests: Raul Flores, Pamela Flores, Hanna Flores

Raul Flores, Software Engineer, Artist, and Maker

Pamela Flores, Travel Specialist University of North Texas, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and Artist

Hanna Flores:

Hi! My name is Hanna, and I'm graduating this semester with a Computer Science degree. I love working in a makerspace because it allows me to learn skills I would never have been able to learn otherwise. In addition, the flexibility of a makerspace has allowed me to turn my position into a software development role that still benefits the makerspace as a whole. I grew up in a creative home with parents who encouraged my exploration from the very beginning. The garage is a woodshop, and the living room is a seamstress' paradise. My home has always been a makerspace of my own, and working in a makerspace has been the most natural and enjoyable position I can imagine. To live and work in a place that always encourages trying something new just to see if it will work has made me happier than I could have ever hoped for, and I aim to be active in the community of makerspaces for the rest of my life! 

Join The Spark Spring 2021 Co-hosts Cameron and Alondra to learn about the field of Electronic Music!

Hosts:

C. Driller:

Hello!

My name is Cameron. I’m a biochemistry and technical writing student at the University of North Texas and I’ve been a maker at the Spark since June of 2018. My expertise in the makerspace is based around 3D printing, sensors, and laser cutting.

I enjoy listening to different kinds of music while I work, but most of my work playlists switch between types of electronic music and oldies. This fact is one of the reasons why I decided to work on the electronic music episode of the podcast since I wanted to learn more about the genre I listen to.

A. Lopez:

My name is Alondra Lopez, and I'm a Knowledge Specialist at the Spark Makerspace since 2019. At the Spark, I mostly focus on creating blog posts and teaching and training textile-based equipment such as the cricut, embroidery, and sewing machines. I'm a senior Media Arts major and Marketing minor student at UNT. I love music, especially electronic music. I've always had an interest in that specific genre back in 2018, so it was nice to discuss it in this episode. 

Guest: Steven Sparkman

Hello, I’m Steven Sparkman. I am a media arts major that focuses on audio and 3d graphics. I work at the Spark teaching students about the different tools and software we offer. Also I run the podcast and twitch live streams for the Spark.

Producer: Judy Hunter and Steven Sparkman

In this episode, put together by a team a Makers and Specialists from The Spark makerspace at the University  of North Texas Libraries, our hosts talk about Hackathons. Really delving in to 3 main questions:

1) What is a hackathon?

2) What happens at a hackathon?

3) Why would you want to participate in a hackathon?

Hosts:

Hanna Flores, Spark Maker and UNT Senior in Computer Science

Tad Weerasignhe, Spark Maker and UNT Senior in Computer Science

Arthur Sliter, Spark Specialists and UNT Sophomore in Mechanical Engineering

Production Team:

Audio Production: 

Steven Sparkman, Spark Maker and UNT sophomore in Media Arts and Theatre

Welcome to UNT MindSpark Spring 2021 is an episode to introduce UNT MindSpark, the approach for the Spring 2021 semester, topics our student host teams will be delving in to, as well as our goal for this podcast. We will explore some of the things that have changed in The Spark Makerspace at UNT and how we are approaching making through the pandemic.

Host: JP Abah

JP is UNT Student, Lead, Ambassador, and Maker. He has been working in the makerspace at UNT for over three years, with a passion for the maker movement and the impact of experiential learning provided by the hands on learning in a makerspace. JP is a senior at UNT who is set to graduate later this year with a Bachelors of Applied Science in Data Analytics.

Producer and Guest: J. Hunter

The Operations Manager for The Spark Makerspace at the University of North Texas Libraries.  She received her Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Training and Development and her Master’s degree in Public Administration from UNT, and has more than 20 years as a professional IT manager and has been with the UNT Makerspace since its inception.

As the operations manager, Judy is responsible for staff development, project management, the space transitions and technology advancements.   She has been instrumental in the success of the Libraries’ progress in these areas.

Producer and Editor: S. Sparkman

Please join the UNT Spark Makerspace as we bring you up to date with changes that happened between semesters and introduce to you the Fall 2020 team of hosts for UNT MindSpark Podcasts.

Following from our previous weeks’ episode, we continue exploring the concept of creative play but this time through the prism of escape rooms. An escape room is a time-constrained real life adventure game that requires you to complete a mission and “escape”. Escape rooms can be a great creative outlet for both its makers and explorers. This week we are joined by Amanda and Yancey Yeargan; they are a husband and wife team who own and operate Quandary Escape Adventures with their partner Tim Sonnier. Sit tight because in this episode, we’ll be touching on topics like - why Escape room are a growing creative outlet for many, what escape room creators want you to know and how you can beat any escape room.  

Host: JP Abah & Steven Sparkman

Guests: Amanda Yeargan, Yancey Yeargan

Bio: Amanda and Yancey Yeargan are a husband and wife team who own and operate Quandary Escape Adventures with their partner Tim Sonnier. Both Alumni of UNT, Yancey has an associate degree in Electronics and a bachelor’s in computer science. He wires and programs most of the electronics involved in their escape room games. Amanda graduated with a bachelor’s in general studies and taught Algebra for seven years before launching into the Escape Room industry. An avid woodworking enthusiast, Amanda designs and builds most of the props in their escape rooms as well as designing story lines and puzzle logistics.