Makerværket
Student Assistant, Rapid Prototyping Lab · Mar 2022 to Aug 2023
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The Makerværket lab: two laser cutters, a 3D printer and workstations set up along a gymnasium wall
- Organisation
- Makerværket
- Title
- Student Assistant, Rapid Prototyping Lab
- Location
- Frederikssund Gymnasium
- Period
- Mar 2022 to Aug 2023
- Tools
- 3D printing · Laser cutting · Illustrated tutorials · Workshop facilitation
I ran Makerværket, the school's rapid prototyping lab, instructing students in 3D printing, laser cutting and assembly, and I designed 10+ original builds alongside the illustrated step-by-step instructions that people actually used.
The role
I managed Makerværket's rapid prototyping lab day to day, which meant instructing students and staff on 3D printing, laser cutting and physical assembly, and helping them take an idea through to a finished object. Furthermore I counselled students on their own projects, facilitated sessions, and both created and ran guided mini-projects, stepping in wherever the lab needed a hand.
The tutorials
The part I spent the most time on was making the lab usable without me standing over anyone's shoulder. I designed and built 10+ original physical creations, ranging from pencil holders and jewellery stands to a laser-cut ship and Minecraft-themed prints, and I wrote each one up as an illustrated step-by-step card, with pictures over text and a QR code linking to the full guide. This means that a student could pick up a project and follow it unassisted.
About Makerværket
Makerværket is Frederikssund municipality's project-based, experimental learning space, open to public-school and upper-secondary students, and local businesses bring in real problems for them to work on. It is funded by the Villum Foundation at 6.7 million DKK over three years, running to the end of 2023, and it runs on seven principles rather than on a rulebook: 1. Don't be afraid of what you don't know, and ask for help. 2. Think with your hands. 3. Seek out people who aren't like you. 4. Sustainability starts with giving something back to where you live. 5. Fun is something you build together. 6. Start even if what you make is rough, so someone else can make it better. 7. Understand who your idea is meant to help before you build it.
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Two illustrated step-by-step instruction cards, Make a horse sticker and Make your own pencil holder, each with a QR code linking to the full guide
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A laser-cut plywood coat hanger engraved with the MakerVærket name
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Workshop wall bins of craft and modelling supplies, with a laser-cut model ship hull mid-build on the bench below
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Two 3D-printed snowman pen holders side by side, one unpainted and one hand-painted
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A 3D-printed Minecraft-style house model with a black roof and a furnace detail by the door
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A laser-cut plywood hand shape for holding rings, standing on a circular base
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A laser-cut hexagonal pen and tool holder engraved with the MakerVærket horse logo, photographed on a white background