One of Murray State’s most versatile creative spaces allows students, faculty and staff to interact with an array of emerging technology.
Makerspace is a soft-directed space offering access to equipment and tools that can be expensive or hard to find on an individual basis. Jeremy Gosser, Makerspace coordinator, said Makerspace equipment has a low barrier to entry if someone has the motivation to learn.
Makerspace is located in the Waterfield Library’s lower floor. Prior to last semester, students had to go through Waterfield’s entrance and down the stairs to access Makerspace; now students can directly enter Makerspace through an auxiliary exit at the southwest corner of the building.
It would be easy to imagine Waterfield’s lower floor closure making Makerspace obscure and out of the way, but Gosser said having its own entrance has given it more autonomy. After an initial slow period following the closure, he said student engagement has increased quite a bit.
“We’ll have 12 to upwards of 20 people in here at a time,” he said. “A lot of engineering and physics students come in for projects. … A lot of people make tabletop gaming and Dungeons & Dragons stuff.”
Gosser said the auxiliary exit will likely remain Makerspace’s main entrance after Waterfield’s lower floor is reopened.
One of Makerspace’s biggest draws is access to its many 3D printers. It has fused deposition modeling printers and resin printers, and designs can be found online or created with Makerspace’s 3D scanner or modeling software. Operation instructions, limitations and rules are specified on a notice next to the machines.
Makerspace’s computer lab is equipped with a range of high-performance software for 3D modeling, coding, video editing and game development. This includes Blender, Adobe Cloud, Zbrush, Steam and much more.
Robert Kidd, junior computer science major in a game development track, said students can create just about anything they can imagine through these softwares.
“If you can think it, you can make it,” Kidd said.
Makerspace is welcoming a new addition to its collection this semester: the heat press machine. This equipment is used to transfer vinyl prints onto a limited run of T-shirts. While the heat press is not available for use yet, it will be soon.
Additional equipment including Oculus VR headsets, drawing tablets, cameras and more can be accessed by request to Gosser or a Makerspace student worker.
Makerspace materials such as 3D printing filament and button pieces are free to use, but those using the equipment are expected to provide their own designs, fabrics and T-shirts.
Additional information about equipment and policies can be found at https://lib.murraystate.edu/makerspace/equipment, but for the most up-to-date information, visit Makerspace during its hours of operation from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
