Launch Workshops

Guild of Makers Launch Event Workshops

Friday 16th March 2018

 

In the afternoon there will be the option to go to two of the available workshops – one at 13:30, one at 15:30. Places are limited on each workshop. There will be a sign-up sheet at the event.

 

13:30 Workshops

  • Microbit with Les Pounder (Bring your own laptop)(15 people)
  • Mini-sculpture workshop (Bring unwanted or recycled jewellery, watches, bracelets, etc. to use as potential bases for your creations.) with Hannah-May Chapman (10 people)
  • Pricing, Profitability and (gulp!) People with Tim Nicholls (40 people)
  • Autodesk Fusion 360 with Mickey Wakefield (20 people)

 

13:30 Workshops

  • Microbit with Les Pounder (Bring your own laptop) (15 people)
  • Mini-sculpture workshop (Bring unwanted or recycled jewellery, watches, bracelets, etc to use as potential bases for your creations.) with Hannah-May Chapman (10 people)
  • Paper Animations with Rob Ives (25 people)

 

Microbit Bring your own laptop.

Join Les Pounder as he takes us through a whistle stop tour of the micro:bit development board and challenges you to hack your own project to life using just a few common components and some items found in a local pound store. What can you make and what will you learn? Find out over 90 minutes of fun, hacking and invention.

 

About Les Pounder Les is a freelance writer working in print publications such as Linux Format, Linux Voice, The MagPi, and web content for for online sites such as Element 14 and Tech Radar. He works with the Raspberry Pi Foundation to deliver Picademy, bespoke CPD training for teachers, covering the use of the Raspberry Pi. He is based in Blackpool, in the Northwest of the UK and champions a number of IT based groups for children and adults including Blackpool Raspberry Jam, Blackpool Geekup, Blackpool Makerspace, Hackpool

He is also the organiser of Barcamp Blackpool and co-organiser of Oggcamp, events which promote social interaction of the “geek” communities.

In his spare time he enjoys photography. His blog is full of tech related posts: http://bigl.es

 

Mini-sculpture workshop with Hannah-May Chapman

Please bring along up to three pieces of unwanted, unused or recycled jewellery or wearable accessories (watches, bracelets, necklaces, rings, brooches, glasses, ties, etc) to use as potential bases for your creations.

 

Imagine an emotion…what might it look like?

 

In this playful workshop you will have the opportunity to explore the fun and flexible material SilkClay® by making your own wearable creatures based around emotions. It can sometimes be tricky to express something you feel verbally. This is why many artists take to their creative outlet to articulate the emotions they can’t get out. By learning how to add colour, texture and lifelike effects you will have the chance to express yourself and build a unique piece of jewellery.

 

Workshop participants will:

  • Play with easy-to-use SilkClay®, and explore its possibilities
  • Discuss their own approach to making
  • Take their wearable creature home

 

About Hannah-May Chapman Hannah-May is a student at the School of Jewellery in Birmingham. This workshop will form part of her specialist research project for her Masters. All the data generated during this workshop will be analysed, and any photographs, audio or video recordings and drawings may be used to illustrate the findings in her final report. Hannah-May’s online sketchbook can be found here: https://hannahmaychapmanblog.blogspot.co.uk/

 

 

Pricing, Profitability and (gulp!) People Tim Nicholls’ workshop session will be of interest to anyone planning on making money from their work (which should be all of us!) It will cover practical techniques for overcoming the awkwardness many makers feel when putting a value on their products and having ‘the money conversation’ with customers. The session will also include real-world examples of makers’ successes and not-quite-successes when it comes to pricing and profitability.

 

About Tim Nicholls With a true portfolio career as a movie prop maker, bike shop owner, security advisor, writer, business coach, product designer, percussion teacher, co-founder of a few startups and at least a dozen other things, Tim has spent the past 15 years selling his skills and products directly to customers both large and small. His PhD in Behavioural Economics was based on a 4 year research study into pricing strategy and methods to predict and influence people’s responses during conversations about money. Tim has taken a solemn vow to only use his powers for good!

 

Autodesk Fusion 360 with Mickey Wakefield, Autodesk GmbH

 

Startups are more than pitches and funding, and ideas aren’t what’s earning founders million-dollar exits. If you want to move from the conjunctive to the active voice, you’re going to need to make something – and Fusion 360 is here to help you do just that!

 

Fusion 360 is a CAD and manufacturing tool available for free to startups and hobbyists with powerful modelling capabilities for mechanical assemblies of all sorts, but also with full-featured CAM, simulation, collaboration, rendering and design environments. Fusion aims to give you everything you need to both create and manufacture your next world-beating idea.

 

In this workshop, talented and speedy participants with a laptop can follow along while some Fusion basics are explained, while anyone without a laptop, or perhaps less experience with such tools, can watch and learn. All the material presented (and much more) will be available for viewing online later at your leisure, so total comprehension is not a requirement. Along the way – some special features of Fusion will be pointed out, and the participant should learn a bit about CAD tips and tricks, no matter what software they may be using!

 

About Mickey Wakefield Mickey is the “Fusion Evangelist” for EMEA at Autodesk (Europe, Middle East and Africa). While not particularly religious, he does preach the language of CAD and manufacturing to all peoples. Originally from South Carolina, immediately obvious due to his good looks <!>, he has been living and working for the past 20 years in Munich, Germany and has been helping manufacturing companies all over the world improve their processes, gain competitive advantage and become more profitable with CAD, CAM and Simulation technologies. Now working with startups, he’s quite happy that he is allowed to wear sneakers to work.

 

Paper Animations with Rob Ives
Hands-on workshop: Come and make a human powered pipe-organ from corrugated card and paper. Everyone gets to construct their own bellows-powered note. At the end of the session we’ll make beautiful music together!

 

About Rob Ives After ten years as a classroom teacher Rob began designing models made form cardboard. At a mathematics conference he was asked by a publisher, who saw one of his models, if he could create a book of models for them. The result was called Paper Locksmith, a collection of working locks to cut out and make. Paper Automata was the next book Rob and it is still in print and has been printed in a number of languages. At around this time Rob tried producing his own models, the first of these being Surfin’ the Web and Mexican Peck. Over the years he has created more models and is now working full time as a designer. He has two websites, www.flying-pig.co.uk from where he distributes printed kits and www.robives.com, a download based website. He often visits schools and teacher’s courses to talk about paper engineering and design technology. Rob lives in Cumbria UK.