National Maker Faire: Celebrating Making and the Kitchen Sink Piano
The technology-inspired DIY Maker Movement is mainstream—the US National Maker Faire is our nation’s coolest science fair, and Ben Franklin would’ve loved every minute.
The White House kicked off the official “Week of Making,” June 12-18 with the National Maker Faire at the University of the District of Columbia. 3D printers, laser cutters, open source, easy-to-use design software, and desktop machine tools are today’s poster board and markers.
The Smithsonian Magazine describes a Maker Faire as “equal parts steampunk convention, craft show and Bill Nye extravaganza,” and warns that “a Faire can be bewildering.” The concept of “Maker Faire” (the greatest show and tell on Earth) was made popular by Make magazine as a way for do-it-yourselfers to display their creations and share knowledge with fellow enthusiasts.
Maker Faires are held year-round throughout the world, but 2016 marks the second year the White House hosted an official Maker Faire. As for some of the inventions, jewelry printed in 3D and drones were a given, but who expected the Kitchen Sink Piano, constructed from a Makey Makey circuit board, a computer, a kitchen sink, and stainless steel kitchen utensils?
“Through basic circuitry, I was able to convert ordinary kitchen utensils into a working piano,” said Daniel Cummins, the inventor of the Kitchen Sink Piano and EdVenture Children’s Museum’s Maker Program Manager. If you’re interested, here’s the Kitchen Sink Piano video.
Here’s a winner. A 3D-printed all-electric Shelby Cobra car whose design is based off of the 50th-anniversary 1965 Shelby Cobra. In case you’re wondering if this is possible in your garage, not really. This car took a team of six engineers six weeks to manufacture and assemble at the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, using the Big Area Additive Manufacturing machine.
For an ideas you can try with your kids: Build a pizza box solar oven, and turn pizza delivery into a STEM lesson.
