A very belated recap of the fourth annual Chicago Northside Mini Maker Faire, a wonderful day for Chicago’s largest celebration of learning, STEAM, and whimsy!
Outside, all sorts of wonderful makers showed off their skills. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect.
The Official Schurz High School NHS Ice Creamery
Tagged 3d printing, Arts & Crafts, Carl Schurz High School, Chicago, DIY, education, Electronics, engineering, FIRST Robotics Competition, Hackers, Hackerspaces, invention, Make, Maker, Maker Faire, maker movement, Mini Maker Faire Chicago, Mini Maker Faire Chicago Northside, Robotics, Science, soldering, students, technology
Wanna learn to make your own toy gun? Or maybe even shoot one at the Faire? Then join Mostly Harmless Arms to find out more!
Mostly Harmless Arms aims “to make toy guns fun for grownups.” Andrew Kane of MHA explains that “We think that the off-the-shelf blasters don’t shoot far enough for teenagers and adults to produce an active, engaging, outdoor experience that’s more fun than playing video games and better exercise as well.” They have published a variety of blaster designs for others to make, but they also sell completed blasters for those that would rather not build it themselves. It’s important to remember that complete eyewear is important with these products. Be safe and have fun!
At the Faire, they plan to have a table for participants to see the blasters, the blaster parts to see how they work. They might even have a shooting gallery so folks can try out the various blasters! Mostly Harmless Arms “want people to know these type of toys exist, that they can build their own, and that all the fun of a FPS videogame is available in meatspace.”
So come to the Faire and check out Mostly Harmless Arms!
WE’RE BACK! (Admit it, you missed us)
Schurz High School , the Urban School Foundation, and local maker Christina Pei return with the third annual Chicago Northside Mini Maker Faire, celebrating teaching and learning for all ages of makers, new and old! For those of you who are new to Maker Faire, it is the largest celebration of DIY (Do-It-Yourself) in the world. Maker Faire is a venue for inventors, technophiles, artists, crafters, mad scientists, hackers, musicians, and anyone who makes cool things and want to show others how it’s done. If this describes you:
Reserve your maker table at Schurz High School on Saturday, May 2, 2015. We will be accepting applications until April 6. There is no cost to makers to present and it’s FREE for your friends to attend! Makers will also be featured on our website and advertisements.
Questions? Contact us at ChicagoNorthsideMF@gmail.com
Posted in 2015, Archive, Uncategorized
Tagged 3d printing, Arts & Crafts, Carl Schurz High School, DIY, Do it yourself, education, engineering, Hackers, Make, Science, technology
October 20, 2014
We went to a launch party: Chicago’s hardware store for designers, Inventables, presented their cool new 3D tabletop carving machine, aptly named “Carvey.” The next day, they launched their Kickstarter campaign with a funding goal of $50,000, which they reached in about 1 hour. How ’bout them apples, eh?
It was shockingly quiet, waaaay faster than 3D printing, and on Kickstarter for another 30 hours if you want first dibs.
Just open it up.
Clamp down your material of choice–wood, acrylic, soft metals.
…and we got this in minutes!
We hope some of our makers are putting 3D carving to good use by the time the fourth annual Chicago Northside Mini Maker Faire comes around in May!
Posted in 2014, Archive, Uncategorized
Tagged 3D Carving, DIY, Do it yourself, engineering, Make, Makers, technology
May 3rd, 2014 marked the third annual Chicago Northside Mini Maker Faire, and the largest Chicago Maker Faire yet! 80 exhibiting makers, many of them young makers, and 2,000 attendees made this an amazing event. Thanks to everyone who made this happen!
For those of you who joined the fun, here’s a recap of some of our favorites. And for those of you couldn’t make it this year, here’s a taste of what you missed. Our veteran makers returned with some of the exhibits you’ve come to expect from Chicago Northside Mini Maker Faire – lockpicking with TOOOL, soldering with Build-A-Blinkie, tinkering with hackerspaces, DIY projects from Chicago Children’s Museum, Build Your Own Chicago, FIRST Robotics presented by local high schools (Schurz, Lane Tech, Whitney Young), Blast the Nerds from the Schurz National Honors Society, and many more!
When you first entered Maker Faire, did you notice the aerial drones from Mad Lab Industries flying overhead? 
Did you hitch a ride in a muffin baked by Oak Park Muffineering? 
Did you learn to use a drill from the Chicago Tinkering School and Chicago Children’s Museum?
Did you blast a nerd or explode some Coke with Mentos?
We grew so much this year that we needed to expand. For the first time, the stunning domed library was open for Maker Faire, housing a planetarium brought by the Adler Planetarium, all three major Chicagoland hackerspaces (Pumping Station: One, Southside Hackerspace, and Workshop 88), the Chicago Public Library, ChiBots, and Schurz’s own Anime Club.
The hallways were packed with student art, 3D printed designs, a Rube Goldberg device in action, a DIY photobooth, and a taste of the neat offerings of Chicago Electronic Distributors.
Of course, the cafeteria was a center of activity. We hope you also checked out the Electric Garden and Colossal Squid just across the hall, all the robots from the FIRST Robotics teams who presented in the Gym, and Schurz Digital Media making images and beats in the surrounding hall.
Did you make a bouncy ball and learn more about supporting Comer’s Children Hospital from the Schurz IB students?
Or were you too distracted by the adorable bunnies?
Or maybe it was this guy?
Did you learn how to make a cool coin purse from a recycled chip bag?
Did you play a round of Giant Jenga?
Did you check out the Shapeoko 2 from Inventables?
Did you see the bionic hand made by UIC New Media Arts?
Did you make a giant mold, learn to solder, use a cyclic harmonograph, make pictures with fire, craft your own spa products, build your own Chicago, inflate a moon ball, fold some origami, etch an eraser stamp, needle felt a design, construct a hexbug, or build a kit from Brown Dog Gadgets? Whew! We were overwhelmed, too!
Don’t worry, we’re coming back in May, 2015 – more makers, more attendees, more stuff to DIY. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to always be in the know. That’s all folks! Keep on making, and come back for more!
Chicago Northside Mini Maker Faire 