Publish Date: Apr 19, 2018 The Hartnell College Makerspace Grand Opening
At the East Alisal Campus
SALINAS, Calif. - The Hartnell Community College District is proud to announce the Grand Opening of its new Makerspace on April 24, 2018 at the East Alisal Campus with a ribbon cutting ceremony and demonstrations to the public at large.
Markerspace Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting
Tuesday, April 24 at 3:00 p.m.
1752 E. Alisal Street, Salinas (Buildings D & B)
Hartnell College’s students, faculty, and staff will benefit from a new focus on ‘making,’ innovation, and entrepreneurship thanks to a CCC Maker Implementation Grant from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. The grant will serve to facilitate internships, provide skills training, connect students to industry partners, and create a makerspace community that welcomes all students. The Makerspace will foster new collaboration among faculty to develop maker-focused curriculum.
There are two spaces designated as the clean and dirty Makerspace, with each being 750 sq. ft. Attendees will meet faculty and staff, enjoy refreshments, play with a large model airplane, and view demonstrations on cutting edge equipment, including 3-D printers, laser cutters and engravers, 3-D scanners, CNC Routers, Drone Flying, Robotics, and more.
The Hartnell College Makerspace is also open to the community through a number of collaborations with Alisal Center for the Arts; STEAM Salinas Arts and Innovation Hub; Hartnell College FabLab; Hartnell College K-12 and NASA MAA initiatives; The Packard Foundation; Salinas Airport; and Young Eagles Chapter #204.
California Community Colleges are already seeing the positive impact of makerspaces, explained Carol Pepper-Kittredge, CCC Maker Statewide Project Manager. “Statewide, in just half a year, over 9,000 students have participated in an educational experience in a college makerspace, faculty have participated in over 140 professional development activities, more than 290 courses have accessed makerspaces and 65 advisory meeting have been held,” said Pepper-Kittredge.
At the Makerspace, students can bring their ideas to life whether by using 3D modeling and printing or by using software engineering to make a computer application to help a community organization. In addition to making, these students are developing leadership skills while being involved in promoting ‘making,’ and showing others how to use equipment skills. Hartnell student that are makers will also have the opportunity to participate in work-based learning experiences via internships starting this summer 2018.
The CCC Maker Grant is also funding 13-hour student internships to participate in work-based learning that will prepare them for meaningful and well-paid employment. For more information about the Hartnell College Makerspace, go to http://hartnell.edu/makerspace or contact Claudia Maciel – Contreras @ ccontreras@hartnell.edu.
Hartnell Community College District – established in 1920
The Hartnell CCD serves over 17,000 students annually through its main campus in Salinas, the Alisal Campus in East Salinas, the King City Education Center, and various outreach learning centers throughout the Salinas Valley. Hartnell College, a Hispanic Serving Institution, provides associate degree and certificate programs, workforce-training, courses in basic skills, and prepares students for transfer to four-year colleges and universities. Hartnell College is recognized for its innovative public and private partnerships that support world-class education for STEM, career technical education, fine and performing arts, humanities/social sciences, nursing/healthcare, and athletics. We are proud to be the winners of the 2015 Innovation Award for CSin3 – a Computer Science bachelor’s degree in three years . We are growing leaders through opportunity, engagement, and achievement. For more about Hartnell CCD, visit www.hartnell.edu . ###