UCD Makerspace Creates Programme for Students to Design the Future
University College Dublin (UCD) has created a new multidisciplinary elective programme aimed at innovators and experimenters.
The Designing the Future elective programme has a strong sustainability focus. It was devised by UCD Innovation Academy’s makerspace to give students a chance to try hands-on experiments and learn about technologies that will be vital for the development of a circular and sustainable economy.
The elective’s first class kicked off this week. The class of 10 includes students from a variety of academic disciplines including medicine, politics and international relations, computer science, sociology, engineering, law, midwifery and food science.
“Designing the Future will empower students to understand and experiment with technology. It enables students to discover the lost skills of repair and maintenance and to have the confidence to take something apart and put it together again. It gives students a taste of what’s possible with new and emerging technologies and crucially, it’s an opportunity for students from all disciplines to work together.”
UCD Innovation Academy
This is an excerpt from the full article at Silicon Republic.
About the UCD Innovation Academy MakerSpace
The UCD Innovation Academy MakerSpace is facilitated by Convene. It is a place to cultivate and address the skills of the future; a place to involve enterprise and break down the barriers between industry and academia; and a place to explore the potential of enterprise to augment and contribute to higher education, through content partnerships and more. In October 2021, UCD Innovation Academy launched Ireland’s first multidisciplinary MakerSpace elective, Designing the Future. The MakerSpace includes a range of 3D printers, plastics recycling and repurposing equipment, vacuum forming and mould making equipment, laser cutters and virtual reality headsets. Through Convene is working to incorporate the MakerSpace into more of their programmes, partnering with technology enterprise partners, embedding sustainability into the MakerSpace and empowering more students to understand and experiment with new technologies.