Jumbo’s Maker Studio

Overview

Jumbo’s Maker Studio is Tufts University’s experimental space at the Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO). Members of the Tufts Community saw a need for an open design space accessible to all students and therefore created this space. It is run by faculty and grad students at the CEEO and is currently funded through grants and registration fees. This is also an educational space so some aspects are being developed and studied as part of graduate research studies. This includes the layout, hardware, tools, student use and experiences within Jumbo’s Maker Studio. 

Access

Jumbo’s Maker Studio is available to all members of the Tufts community. There is a registration process in place to gain access and it is open Monday through Friday from 9 to 5. 

Tools, Materials and Resources

• Apple iMac with full Adobe Suite, Inqscape,
  
• Epilog Zing24 40 Watt laser
  
• Various LEGO™ pieces
  
• LEGO™ EV3 Robotics kits
  
• iRobot create
  
• Vex Robotics Kits
  
• Pitsco Tetrix components
  
• Soldering Tools and supplies
  
• Craft Supplies
  
• Various electronics
  
• Arduino development boards and their variations
  
• MakerBot Replicator (Original)
  
• Cubify Cube 2
  
• Roland Modela MDX-15
  
• An Other Machine 
  

Access & Usage Costs

Equipment and support fee, various materials available at cost

Management

A PhD student manages the space and there are 3 undergraduate assistants who work in the space. The other makers serve as mentors for one another through the Tufts Maker Network and student organizations like Tufts Make. Oversight is done through registration and user logging as well as being managed within the Center for Engineering Education and Outreach.

Training

There are online tutorials as well as project and skill based workshops and mini-courses through Jumbo School, an initiative were students teach students organized through Tufts Maker Network. 

Use and Activity

Jumbos’ Maker Studio is used for both personal and course projects. There are workshops and mini-courses that make use of it on occasional weekends. Summer camps use the space for K-12 outreach. 

Culture and Community

As part of the opening of Jumbo’s Maker Studio, the Jumbo’s Maker Network was developed to link this makerspace to the groups on campus and other spaces that are involved in making. 

Challenges and Lessons Learned

The location is about a ¾ of a mile from the main campus so it is somewhat out of the way. Active promotion of Jumbo’s Maker Studio as well as holding events there serves to encourage students to make the journey. 

Advice to other Makerspaces

Allow student needs to drive what is in the space and how it’s arranged. It has been an involved process allowing the space to evolve in this way and fostering it to do so quickly but we feel it is helping it to become a more useful tool for the students.