We wanted to share a bit of Festive Cheer, fresh from our Laser Cutter! Hand-made by Robots. Check out our gallery for all the build photos.
The year started off great with our 11th birthday. Just as we finished hosting Science Hackday weekend hackathon in March the world changed. We’ve done our best to keep making alive and our doors open when restrictions allowed. Unfortunately, it has meant our normal programme of outreach events has not happened this year. We have moved many of our regular events online and host monthly live streams showcasing our member’s projects.
We hope next year will see a return to in-person events, talks, workshops and collaborating with the wider maker/tech/STEM community.
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
We are reopening from the 1st of December for all members. All scheduled events will continue to be held online during level three restrictions. For the latest up to date information please check out our calendar or meetup page.
Visitors are asked to contact us before visiting the space to arrange an appropriate time.
? We want to celebrate making this Christmas so we bring you the Christmas Making Decoration Competition. We want to see all your homemade decorations this year.
It’s free, anyone of all ages can have fun making these decorations, hang them up, display them and be proud that you made it either yourself and even better, with your loved ones.
DEADLINE: Sunday, December 13, 2020 (Midnight, Irish Time)
Terms and Conditions
Competition entrants must reside in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
60% of the decoration must be home-made.
The Christmas Decoration can be placed on the tree or in a window.
Anyone who is under 18s years of age must have a parent or guardian who is 18 years or over to submit their Christmas Decoration entry on their behalf.
Our judging panel is made up of representatives from each of our partnering organisations. You can learn more about each of them below.
Meg “Without A Stitch”
Meg has always been interested in crafting and creating. After her BA in Theatre which focused on costume and set design, she moved to Ireland and became involved in the cosplay scene. Since then she has judged for Dublin Comic Con and other cosplay competitions, but has a broad range of interests that includes embroidery, quilting, sewing, photography and prop making.
David is a director of Benchspace Cork. He works full time in the Technology Industry and in his spare time is interested in all aspects of making including digital but primarily woodwork.
We are delighted to be taking part in Science Week now in its 25th year. We always like to take part in these national weeks to promote science and education. We have lined up of talks for you on Thursday the 12th of November from 7 pm streaming on our Youtube channel. This year we are teaming up with the Young Engineers Society to bring you a night of interesting lightning talks.
Project Title: Tell me more about the fungus under the kitchen table… Project Description: After seeing an ad on twitter for a box of grow your own oyster mushrooms, Tríona is now the proud owner of a box of oyster mushrooms. Not liking mushrooms, she thought growing mushrooms would be the most interesting part of the project, but then Jeffrey asked her to talk about them for Science Week… Speaker: Dr. Tríona O’Connell. Twitter.
Project Title: DIY Solar Install Project Description: In an effort to make an office unit more environmentally friendly Christian will detail his DIY Solar Install. This 4.7 KW install faced a number of challenges refitting an ageing office unit, setting up a power management system while all on a budget. Speaker: Christian Kortenhorst. Twitter.
Project Title: IoT Weather Station Project Description: Weather is the most talked about topic. This project aims for these chats to be more informed by having very localized weather data. This DIY IoT weather station talk will go over how to install your very own weather station and share your local data. Speaker: Jeffrey Roe. Twitter.
There are lots of Science Week events happening all over the country you can find more of them listed here -> https://www.sfi.ie/events/
Due to the new restrictions introduced by the government, we are required to close the space during the level 5 restrictions. There will be no access to the space to the public and members. We have been here before and can get through this. As a community, we will pull together even more. We encourage you all to try and take part in our lineup of virtual events and suggest any more.
We want to give you all something to look forward to on these dark evenings. We are hosting a project showcase live stream on Thursday the 15th of October from 7 pm. Tune into our Youtube channel to see makers showcase their projects in short 10-minute talks followed by a live Q&A. Check out the projects below.
Project Title: Portable Soldering Station Project Description: Portable Soldering Station made from a British Army 120mm Tank shell Can. Speaker: Nathan Wheeler. InstagramYouTube, Twitter.
Project Title: DIY solar home heater Project Description: This project is the build and install of a solar thermal (hot air) collector. The hot air is passed through an air-to-water heat exchanger and the heated water is pumped through existing underfloor water pipes for home heating. The build was done at TOG and the completed project was taken home for install. Speaker: Gary Cooke
Project Title: Self Driving Car (Deep Q-Learning) Project Description: In a udemy course called Artificial Intelligence A-Z by Super Data Science that I’m doing I was thought how to make a self driving car using a branch of a.i called reinforcement learning. This coupled with an artificial neural network model I was able to do Deep Q-Learning and train a car to drive on a virtual road. Q-Learning can be useful for when you want a.i to play video games and find the most efficient way to win the game. Speaker: Rob O’Sullivan. Linkedin. Github
Project Title: Coffee Table Project Description: Coffee table with welded hairpin legs and scrap 2×4. Speaker: Niamh O Connor
Project Title: 3D printed egg cup Project Description: First test to use the onshape modelling software and Prusa 3 printer (how to process) Speaker: Patrick Devine – YouTube
Project Title: Tachyonic Antitelephone Project Description: The Tachyonic Antitelephone is a theoretical device from physics’ history, a thought experiment realised. What if our future self could send back messages in time, telling us what our life could be, warning us of impending danger, or simply steering us away from mistakes and regrets. The Tachyonic Antitelephone opens up questions of free will, choice, fate and pre-destination. Can we change who we were, or who we may become? Do we really have the power to shift our own narratives?
This work was produced for the Hack Circus Time Travel Live event in London in 2013, and was shown in the Freedman Gallery, Allbright College, Pennsylvania as part of Mediated Realities.
