South Suburban College is sending an electronics faculty member to the USFabLab symposium. President Manning has given the OK for plans to create the MakerLab at their Oak Forest campus and to move the electronics program there. Perkins grant applications are being adjusted to support the development of the MakerLab. 

 Moraine Valley Community College has several site visits scheduled for the end of March and is considering the possibility of two makerspaces- one internal and another public. Library and CAD/CAM faculty have joined the planning group. 

 University of St. Francis' Visual Arts Department has allocated funding to create their arts-oriented MakerLab. Three screenings of Maker: The Movie are scheduled at USF prior to the Dale Dougherty event on March 24th. The first screening was well-received. Attendees were asked to send the event information to all parties who may be potential users or supporters. The SouthWorks MakerLab logo contest at University of St. Francis is underway, and the first round of submissions are due March 18th. 

 DeVry's remodeled and expanded electronics lab is set to open in April and provide the basis for their MakerLab. 

 Lewis University has established the Center for Scientific Innovation to house the MakerLab planned for the Science Center. Funding has been found. "Girls in STEM" will be a substantial emphasis for the MakerLab. Other committee members have also expressed interest in that segment of potential users. 

 

The Park Forest MakerLab has equipment and is looking to have programming starting April 30th. Established through SBA incubator funding, the Park Forest space will help entrepreneurs create prototypes and launch their businesses. A small space, it will provide an entry point to the training and maker resources that the rest of the network will provide. In addition, it will provide a testing ground for the rest of the network, particularly regarding programming for the public.

 

Report from last month's Technori Maker event: The Harold Washington Library's MakerLab will host a meeting of the region's makerspaces on March 30th., which SMHEC will attend. Lane Tech High School has had great success with its newly-opened makerspace and will be putting together a tour for interested parties. 

The SMHEC MakerLab committee discussed the need for our MakerLab network to be responsive to the needs of the area employers and promote their involvement. Doing so is a major reason for our initiative and a major consideration of many potential funders.

Our group discussed various ways to connect with industry. Each institution will seek appropriate opportunities to promote the MakerLab initiative. A large MakerLab-specific event/announcement is not considered as effective as one-on-one meetings with potential partners. Finding several champions to get involved in our project in an advisory capacity would be the best first step and will be brought up to the SMHEC Presidents' Council. Potential champions might be larger employers who already utilize some of the tools or are interested in the benefits of workers with skills. Also, startups who need those skills would be a fertile area to look. Committee members will investigate and report potential connections to these types of firms. The committee also feels we are ready to strengthen our connections with other economic development and industry-oriented intermediaries.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Lewis University a grant for a project entitled "Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Connections. The project will provide experiential learning opportunities for students.

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Together  with local partners, Kankakee Community College and Olivet Nazarene University are participating in the Kankakee County EnterpriseU Business Plan Competition. KCC, through its IL Small Business Development Center, will be providing training and Olivet will provide six months of free membership to the Catalyst Innovation Center.

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The Village of Tinley Park hosted an event on March 10th for all I-80 Corridor manufacturing firms to learn about opportunities to build their workforce. While business growth will require some expansion, the greatest need will occur as a substantial portion of their skilled workforce will be retiring over the next 10 years. Calumet Green Manufacturing (CGMP) spoke of the programs they have in place with SMHEC community college members to provide for immediate workforce needs, and SMHEC discussed the SouthWorks MakerLab Network and its relevance to the ongoing workforce needs of manufacturers. Through the hands-on experience of new "making" technologies, MakerLabs will interest a wider spectrum of students in manufacturing and provide them with a broader set of the skills required to succeed in modern manufacturing.

 

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KCC is participating in a nation-wide project to have students learn STEM concepts while building an electric guitar. 

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A recent Manufacturing Institute study done by Deloitte examines the widening skills gap as Baby Boomers retire and the pipeline of talent isn't deep enough or developing quickly enough. Not just a numbers game, finding, attracting, and retaining the right skills is at the heart of the matter. It is no longer simply a short-term issue of filling current open positions.

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USF's College of Business & Health Administration's Business Incubator is hosting a presentation by Dale Dougherty, the creator of Make Magazine  and the MakerFaire concept, and a primary evangelist for the Maker Movement. 

 

The event is free and open to the public. Please spread the word to faculty, students, and other pontential stakeholders to help build an interest in making in our region. 

 

March 24, 2015

7:00pm to 8:30pm

Sullivan Recreation Center

 

Registration is required at incubatorstudent@stfrancis.edu

 

South Suburban College will host their second annual STEM Symposium on Friday, March 27, 2015, from 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. at the college's Main Campus in South Holland. Students and educators of all levels are encouraged to attend this special event.

 

The STEM Symposium will feature a college and career expo related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The program will begin with welcome remarks from Congresswoman Robin Kelly followed by the evening's Keynote presentation from Black Oaks Center for Sustainable Living.

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