From idea to innovation: new makerspace to turbocharge student creativity and collaboration

January 04, 2024

A former boiler room attached to UVic’s Engineering Lab Wing is currently being transformed into an exciting new makerspace as part of the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science’s (ECS) $150M capital expansion—the most ambitious in the history of the Faculty. This space will allow students to turn their ideas into reality, tinker with state-of-the-art technologies, and leverage the powerful multiplying effects of collaboration, teamwork and creativity to engineer inspired innovation. 

The makerspace will support and be integrated into the ECS ecosystem of world class learning and research environments, that propels people, ignites ideas and aims to shape future generations of skilled, diverse engineering and computer science leaders who will lead the way to a sustainable future.

“The goal of the new UVic makerspace really is for engineering and computer science students and student clubs and teams to go there and be able to make any project that they can think of, with all the materials and tools they need being available to them in an accessible space,” explains Matthew Curtis, President of the UVic Engineering and Computer Science Student Society (ECSS) and third year software engineering student. “It’s hands on, experiential learning at its best with exciting technology at people’s fingertips such as large lathes, 3D printers, laser cutters and smaller tools such as soldering stations that people can go to and just really play around with while creating cool new things.”

Consisting of a bottom floor with a variety of tools and technologies at one’s disposal, the upper floor of the makerspace, or the mezzanine level, will offer a dynamic social space where people can interact, share best practices, and collaborate on all sorts of innovative ideas.

The Engineering and Computer Science Student Society believes so strongly in the makerspace concept, that last year they proposed a massive multiyear financial contribution through their student fees, that was overwhelmingly approved by the student body in a referendum, resulting in a total financial commitment of $450,000 over eight years.

“The donation works out to about a third of our student fees over those years,” explains Curtis. “That is a massive commitment and a huge vote of confidence in the makerspace concept from all of our students, which really shows how important it is and how much students believe in it, not only now, but for future students as well.”

Through their generous gift and multi-year support, the student society wants to create a culture of philanthropy and encourage others to invest into the Faculty’s ambitious and transformative expansion plans, with the overall aim of developing the next generation of talented engineers and computer scientists, ready, willing and able to tackle the greatest challenge of our times, and times to come.

“We hope that other will join us in achieving our vision together, and to collectively be part of an exciting solution,” says Curtis. “Through the makerspace, we invite alumni, industry partners and community partners to come see what we’re doing, donate to our cause and work together to contribute to successfully pushing forward the boundaries of innovation.”

In general, makerspaces are designed as accessible places where people can meet up, learn by doing, collaborate on creative projects and tinker with advanced technologies. Their magic lies in the creative intersection of both advanced technology fostering technical skills and abilities as well as an accessible social aspect that highlights soft skills such as project management, teamwork and sharing, and debating, ideas and best practices.

“We want people to not only go there and build things, we also want people to build experiences together,” explains Niaomi Peck, ECSS Vice President of Equity and a third year computer engineering student. “The social aspect is really important because people can learn from each other, clubs can learn from different ways of doing things and people can learn a whole bunch of skills such as project management and teamwork while they work on their projects.”

Designed to be open for everyone, the makerspace will offer students an opportunity to work on personal and capstone projects such as learning the ins and outs of 3D printing and modelling, offer student clubs such as racing teams the opportunity to find their competitive edge by testing out new approaches, as well as welcoming students from different faculties and disciplines with an interest in hands on learning in the fields of engineering and computer science.

“One thing that is very important to me in my role as VP Equity, is making sure the space is not only effective for student clubs and teams, but also welcoming and accessible to all students in our Faculty,” explains Peck. “It’s an essential part of the makerspace concept – that the space can be accessed and used by everybody who wants to be there.”

The new makerspace is on track for an official opening in spring 2024. And when the doors open to students for the first time, one thing that both Curtis and Peck want to emphasize is how the makerspace will reflect a sense of pride and continuing legacy of accomplishment within the ECS community.

“Walking through the doors for the first time, I think people will be excited to see the display of past projects and club successes,” says Peck. “We want to encourage clubs to hang up banners and display trophies, it’s their legacy and it’s a great way to highlight the many successes of our students and our clubs. Looking ahead to the future, if the makerspace is as successful as we believe it will be, there will be a lot more of these successes to come!”