‘Maker’ event to run as part of science festival this July

1 Mar 2013

Exhibit from the 2012 Dublin Mini Maker Faire

Dublin Mini Maker Faire, the community event for tech enthusiasts, inventors and crafters, is set to host its day-long event during Dublin’s new science festival this July.

As we reported in December, Dublin will play host to a science event called the Festival of Curiosity this July, with the event set to take place annually in the city.

As part of the festival, Mini Maker Faire, the event for tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, hobbyists, science clubs, students, authors or exhibitors, will be hosting its event on 27 July in the Science Gallery and on the grounds of Trinity College Dublin.

The first-ever event for ‘makers’ to exhibit their creations was held in Dublin last July during the Euroscience Open Forum.

Mini Maker Faire is organised by a team from Science Gallery, Science Hack Day Dublin, MakerSoc at NUI Maynooth and TOG Hackerspace.

Those who get involved will exhibit their work, projects, crafts, inventions, products and hacks during the ‘maker event’. According to the Science Gallery, people have until 15 March to submit their project ideas for this year’s event.

Laura Tobin, one of the organisers of the Mini Maker Faire, said that last year’s event featured exhibitors ranging from roboticists to crochet clubs and 3D printers.

Science hackathon

Meanwhile, this weekend, the Science Hack Day will be taking place at Dublin City University. Engineers, scientists, developers, designers and artists will be pooled together for the 36-hour hackathon, with the aim of solving a problem using software, hardware and crafts.

David McKeown, the co-ordinator of the event, said more than 100 people have signed up for the hackathon, with ideas ranging from easy tools for 3D printing, a 21st-century tombstone for storing people’s digital memories, embedding wireless sensors in Irish dancing shoes and a device to generate a story from a few keywords.

“We are looking to ignite the initial spark of innovation, where the only concern is creating something new and all other distractions are ignored,” said McKeown.

Carmel Doyle was a long-time reporter with Silicon Republic

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