White House Announces Plans to Host Its First-Ever Maker Faire
President Obama has openly expressed his desire for young people “to be makers of things, not just consumers of things.” He’s held making-themed Google Hangouts and science fairs; he’s supported 3D printing and robotics. And he recently invited 16-year-old tinkerer Josh Hudy — who created a marshmallow cannon that wowed the President in an Internet-famous photo — to his State of the Union address.
Earlier on Monday, the White House announced plans to take a further step toward embracing the burgeoning movement of hands-on creation: holding a Maker Faire — an event where so-called “makers” can exhibit their homemade creations — of its very own.
The first Maker Faire was held in the San Francisco Bay Area in April 2006. The event now occurs in several locations across the country, including New York, Detroit and Austin, as well as international locales like Rome, Tokyo and Luxembourg. The goal is to bring together hobbyists, engineers, artists and other smart folks to show off what they’ve been building, from 3D printers to huge robotic dragons. It’s sort of a science fair for cool DIY projects.
Given Obama’s focus on including engineering and programming in standard STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education curriculums, however, the White House’s own version of the event will likely be more focused on students. (Given the sort of security that tends to follow the president around, we can likely expect few of the giant robotic dragons that Maker Faires have become noteworthy for.)
Details on the event are pretty scarce at the moment, but the administration has already begun putting feelers out by opening up entries via email (maker@ostp.gov) and Twitter, via the #IMadeThis hashtag. Interested makers are encouraged to send along pictures and videos of their projects. The email address is also open to those who simply want to lend a hand to the upcoming event.
In its blog post, the White House also used the opportunity to highlight some of the folks getting the whole maker thing right, including national TechShop, which recently partnered with Ford to bring a “makerspace” community center to Detroit, and MIT’s Fab Lab, which aims to bring fabrication resources to the masses.
The marshmallow kid Hudy, incidentally, also scored a spot as Intel’s youngest intern ever last December. So who knows where innovation, a nod from the president and a little dessert food can get you?
