The White House has kicked off the National Week of Making, which lasts from June 12 to June 18. The event includes announcements and progress updates on the President’s call to action to create a “Nation of Makers.”
America has always been a nation of tinkerers, inventors, and entrepreneurs. In recent years, a growing number of Americans have gained access to technologies such as 3D printers, laser cutters, easy-to-use design software, and desktop machine tools. This, in combination with freely available information about how to use, modify, and build upon these technologies and the availability of crowd funding platforms, is enabling more Americans to design and build almost anything.
Empowering students and adults to create, innovate, tinker, and make their ideas and solutions into reality is at the heart of the Maker Movement. Since the first-ever White House Maker Faire, the White House has continued to support opportunities for students to learn about STEM through making, expand the resources available for maker entrepreneurs, and foster the development of advanced manufacturing in the U.S.
The week coincides with the National Maker Faire in D.C., which featured makers from across the country and participation by federal agencies including: the Department of Education, National Science Foundation, U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Small Business Administration, Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Institute of Standards and Technology, NASA, Corporation for National and Community Service, Department of Homeland Security, and the Smithsonian.
Last year, the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) held a workshop, which was the second in a series of three Computing Visions 2025 Workshops, called The New Making Renaissance: Programmable Matter and Things that brought together experts in 3D printing, digital fabrication, synthetic biology, printable electronics, end-user programming, manufacturing, robotics, design, healthcare, CAD/CAM, and intellectual property. The goal of this workshop, similar to the Week of Making, was to inspire the computing community to envision future trends and opportunities within this critical emerging landscape.
