The Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering in ATU Galway formally opened its Maker Space, housed in the Engineering Workshop last week. The Maker Space boasts an array of equipment, much of which was funded by the Higher Education 4.0 project, under HCI Pillar 3. This project is designed to encourage innovation and agility as a means of addressing future skill requirements.
The Maker Space is a multi-use, creative educational space which houses a range of additive manufacturing technologies, such as a Laser Cutter, Vacuum Former, along with a bank of 3D Printers - consisting of twelve serviceable Fusion Deposition Modelling and Stereolithography Resin printers. Housed within the same area are a suite of VR goggles for conceptual design, along with a 3D Scanner and Coordinate Measuring Machine which can be used to profile, reverse engineer and accurately precision measure components or parts. In the future the School of Engineering plan to add a bank of miniature CNC machines.
The Maker Space is currently used by students studying Engineering or Entrepreneurship programmes, such as the M.Sc in Design and Innovation, but the School of Engineering hope to make the area accessible to everyone.
Engineering students use the Maker Space to advance the design of prototype or bespoke products by using the digital data stored in the CAD model. Students from the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering department like: Cathal Delaney, and Michael Harte, Energy Engineering; Roy Sheridan, Energy Engineering who were first introduced to additive manufacturing when studying Manufacturing Engineering in stage 1, where they had to use the technology to complete assignments.
Since then, Roy has used the technology to work on his Major project: “I love going down to the area to see the parts of my Major Project, Miniature CNC Machine, being made. From the project outset, I always knew I had to use additive manufacturing to accelerate my project. I engineered and adapted my design to best use the technology, and I would like to thank Ethan for all the pointers and time he has given.”
In addition, Roy said the maker space has been a vital resource for final year project students, and it is great to see the School of Engineering opening the area to all student as it is in constant use.
Dr Oliver Mulryan, Head of the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department said that at this time of the year, the Maker Space is constantly bustling with student activity.
“To help make the Maker Space more accessible to everyone the department are in the process of developing a series of outreach workshops. The workshops will be aimed at students of different ages, backgrounds and experiences. The workshops will be used to develop their curiosity, creativity and critical thinking skills all of which are core to the STEM disciplines.
Mr. Noel Mulkeen, HCI Higher Education 4.0 Manager, said the HCI Education 4.0 Project at its core is about responsive to the needs of learners, and the needs of Industry.
“We are delighted to support this initiative because it caters for learners needs in a very creative and hands -on way, and it offers the opportunity to enterprise to engage with the ATU to experiment, create prototypes and address their challenges in innovative ways.
The Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering would like to specifically thank: Mr. Eamon Walsh, Head of Department of Graduate and Professional studies; and Mr. Noel Mulkeen, HCI Higher education 4.0 Innovation Manager and Ms. Aine Friel, Communications Officer, Higher Education 4.0 for their support vision and foresight.
