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Coming Soon: the White House Maker Faire

We recently covered the story of Joey Hudy, a young Afiniac who had made an impression at the White House Science Fair in 2012 with his marshmallow cannon.  Inspired by Joey’s tenacity and the growing Maker movement, the White House has announced that it will be hosting its first ever Maker Faire.  Details about the event are still vague, but Makers across the country are encouraged to e-mail [email protected] or tweet with the hashtag #IMadeThis to make the White House aware of your own projects.

As the White House blog points out, the US government has already encouraged the Maker attitude in its citizens with a number of projects.  The US Army has crowd-sourced solutions for military problems with ArmyCoCreate and a military hack-a-thon.  DARPA worked with the Veteran’s Administration to create a TechShop in Pittsburgh, which started an apprenticeship program through Carnegie Mellon, the AFL-CIO, and the Department of Labor.  The Americorps’ Maker Education Initiative is hoping to give young people the skills needed to take on their own DIY projects.  The White House even gave a member of the Maker Movement, Dale Dougherty, the honorary status of Champion of Change.  And we can’t forget that last year saw the launch of America Makes, the country’s own 3D printing institute.

Until the White House releases further details about their “all-hands-on-deck effort to provide even more students and entrepreneurs access to the tools, spaces, and mentors needed to Make” to be launched later this year, their blog suggests a few ways for US society at large to support the Maker movement.  They suggest that “companies could support Maker-spaces in schools and after-school programs” and give their employees time off to mentor in such programs, that universities launch their own Makerspaces, that “mayors and communities could pursue initiatives like design/production districts“, and that non-profits give “matching grants to communities that are interested in embracing Making“, especially ones that encourage the representation of women and minorities in STEM programs.

We’ll definitely keep you updated with details about the event because where there’s Making, there’s 3D printing. If it’s anything like Joey’s visit to the White House, it’s sure to be fun.  Check out Joey’s visit below:

Source: The White House