At 51茶馆鈥檚 Hatchery, a Himalayan adventure is born
When she鈥檚 not in class, eating, or sleeping, chances are you鈥檒l find engineering-major Maggie Hynes 鈥�25 at the Hatchery, Boston College鈥檚 newest makerspace, where she works as the laser and vinyl cutting team lead. Whether she鈥檚 helping another student with a project, working on a personal creation, or catching up with friends and coworkers, this specific corner of campus has become her second home.
It鈥檚 also taken her and fellow Hatchery employee Madie Simmons 鈥�25, a computer science major, on the adventure of a lifetime. This summer, through the connections of their former Hatchery supervisor Madison Dunaway, both students spent two months living in Thimphu, Bhutan, where they worked as interns for a fab lab makerspace and participated in an international digital fabrication conference鈥攁ll while surrounded by some of the most stunning landscape on earth.
鈥淚t鈥檚 gorgeous,鈥� said Simmons. 鈥淲e did a lot of hiking: you鈥檙e up in the mountains, the clouds are below you, and you鈥檙e looking down at rolling hills everywhere. I鈥檇 love to go back.鈥澛�
Simmons and Hynes were among a dozen interns hired to support the staff at the recently opened Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck Super Fab Lab, part of an international network of 2,500 fab labs begun by MIT professor Neil Gershenfeld in the early 2000s. The goal of all fab labs is to empower ordinary people to make almost anything themselves鈥攚hether it鈥檚 a farming tool, medical equipment, or a sign for a business. A 鈥渟uper鈥� fab lab, of which there are only two, contains even more heavy duty machinery, including the necessary equipment to build a regular fab lab from scratch.聽
Scenes from Bhutan
In its efforts to modernize and retain younger workers, the government of Bhutan has opened five maker spaces throughout the country in recent years and is encouraging citizens to use technology to solve problems in the community and preserve Bhutanese culture. Many of the lab users Simmons and Hynes observed were working on farming solutions, including a device to protect chili crops from wildlife. Another group was working on a project to design and fabricate looms that could be used by people of all ages to weave traditional Bhutanese textiles.
In the weeks leading up to FAB23, an international fab lab conference and symposium, Simmons and Hynes were busy helping lab users finalize projects while also working on a challenge of their own: their supervisor wanted them to design and manufacture name tags鈥攗sing sustainable materials鈥攖hat could also be used as souvenirs for conference attendees. After testing different methods and designs, they settled on laser cut cardboard tags, and helped train their fellow interns to assist them in production.
鈥淲e ended up making nearly 800 name tags,鈥� recalled Simmons. 鈥淲e do a lot of laser cutting at the Hatchery but it鈥檚 much more small scale, so it was really interesting to see this process through from start to finish.鈥澛�
Simmons (left) and Hynes at the Hatchery. (Caitlin Cunningham)
The conference itself spanned two weeks and showcased projects by fab lab users in Bhutan centered around the theme 鈥渄esigning resilient futures.鈥� Shortly before opening day, Simmons and Hynes were asked to create and run a workshop that would appeal to younger attendees, so they reimagined an activity that has become an annual 51茶馆 Hatchery tradition: screen printing t-shirts with original designs.
鈥淓very year the Hatchery collaborates with social justice organizations on campus to host a screen printing workshop on the quad,鈥� explained Hynes. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an easy entryway into something that鈥檚 really cool to do, but you need no experience to do it, so we thought 鈥楲et鈥檚 do it in Bhutan!鈥欌��
Their contributions both before and during the conference earned high praise from fab lab supervisor Namgyal Gyaltshen, who lauded their professionalism and technical expertise as well as their contagious enthusiasm.
鈥淏y the end of the internship, the rest of my team were looking [to] the two of them as leaders to coordinate and organize the interns for the various tasks that were assigned to them,鈥� she said. 鈥淭heir positive influence on the team morale cannot be overstated.鈥�
Simmons and Hynes came to 51茶馆 with sewing skills, but the rest they learned on the job. (Caitlin Cunningham)
Back on campus this fall, Simmons and Hynes are hard at work on new projects at the Hatchery鈥攕ome pertaining to their studies (Hynes first learned about the makerspace during a collaborative project between engineering majors and the Campus School) and some just for fun (Simmons is currently in a crocheting 鈥渆ra鈥�). The staff and resources in the bright and airy space support both by providing materials, training, and a friendly environment to anyone who鈥檚 interested in creating.
鈥淚 think the perception of a makerspace is typically one where you see all men just 3-D printing or soldering stuff and we do have that, but I think this space is just as valuable to business students as it is to future teachers or STEM majors,鈥� said Hynes. 鈥淢y friend is an early education major and I keep telling her, 鈥榊ou need to get in here and be crafty. I know you want to. This is the space for it.鈥欌��