Tinkerers Unite!

Tinkerers Unite! Midcoast Mini Maker Faire September 7

The final selections for the first Maker Faire on the Maine coast have been made. “We’re genuinely excited to showcase the work and creativity of these Makers!” said Olga Zimmerman, speaking for the Midcoast Mini Maker Faire Committee. “We’ll have a wide collection of fascinating projects from our Makers here on the midcoast. Many of the presentations will have hands-on projects for all participants; we expect to have an exceptional time and a number of challenging displays.” The Midcoast Mini Maker Faire will be held in the Camden Amphitheatre on Saturday, September 7, 11:00 am to 3:00 pm, rain or shine. The MMMF is presented by the Camden Public Library in partnership with the Midcoast Magnet, with support from the Maine Technology Institutue, The Pen-Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the Farnsworth Museum.

For a full list of the Makers at the Maine, visit www.midcoastmakerfaire.com.

A festival of ideas, energy, creativity, fun, and resourcefulness, the Midcoast Mini Maker Faire will excite and inspire attendees about the world of making. This year’s event will proudly display over 20 Maker exhibits by the local thought leaders and top innovators from the maker movement, awe-inspiring attractions, do-it-yourself technology, robots, crafts, and art. A Maker Faire is where people show what they make and share what they know. Makers range from tech enthusiasts to crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, engineers, artists, science clubs, and students of all ages and backgrounds. This is a free, family-friendly event open to all ages.

Some of the Makers that will be showcased at the Faire will be:

Stephen Abbadessa’s biomass gasification project. Gasification is a process of burning biomass with insufficient oxygen for complete combustion. The resulting gasses can be filtered and used for cooking, lighting, and running engines.

The Watershed School FabLab will have a number of projects underway, including a 3-d printer, arduinos, and graphic designs on longboard decks using gel medium transfers and stencils.

Deb Walters will have camping gear, with designs for making alcohol stoves, twig stoves, tents, tarps, backpack, water carriers, etc. “Many of these will be used on my kayak trip from Maine to Guatemala to raise funds for Safe Passage,” she says.

The University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center will bring a  hands-on presentation activity called “Inventing a Floating Wind Platform” which involves using everyday materials (dowels, foam, empty plastic bottles, rubber bands, balloons, etc.) to construct “scale model” floating offshore wind platforms. They then attach a pinwheel (wind turbine) to the top, and help participants test their inventions in a traveling wind and wave tank (a 50-gallon fish tank with fan and wavemaker).

Maker Faire began in 2005 in San Mateo, CA by the people behind MAKE and CRAFT magazines. Mini Maker Faires have started to sprout up around the United States, including events in Ann Arbor, Sebastopol, Aspen, Kansas City, Boston—and right here in Midcoast Maine. The only other Maker Faire in Maine is in Lewiston/Auburn on September 28.

LIST OF EXHIBITORS

Here is the 2013 line-up of Makers of the Midcoast Mini Maker Faire. “We received so many great applications during the Call for Makers process!” said Olga Zimmerman, “It wasn’t easy to select from this talented community we live in!”

Here, in no particular order, are the names of presenters:

Jared Paradee – Cardboard robots
CMCA ArtLab – Mystery Bags!
Charles Duvall and Sarah Boisvert – 3D Printed Jewelry
Shelby Cote – Tuneful Topper Musical Hat Making
Pilar Nadal, Tired Press – A bicycle powered printing press
WoodenBoat and The Apprenticeshop – boatbuilding
Peter Homer – NASA space glove design
Ella Simon – Icycle Bicycle
Jory Squibb – Sunbeam car
Nathan Davis – Interactive art installation using a computer and an iPhone
Edward Seidel – Underwater robots (ROV)
Watershed School – FabLab
Midcoast Yarn Ninjas – Beautify the town with fiber art
Paul Cartwright – Stone arches, bicycle adapted for different tasks
Stephen Abbadessa – Biomass Gasification
UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center – Inventing a Floating Wind Platform
Deb Walters – Homemade camping gear for kayaking
Dave Talley – Elf car
Bill Buchholz – Micro car
Camden-Rockport Middle School Robotics Club

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