Crowd sourcing with Makerhaus

Startup Weekend, the Seattle-based nonprofit that runs 54-hour entrepreneurial brainstorming sessions all over the world (see page 20), recognized the importance of design last summer when it launched Startup Weekend Maker Edition, the first of its events focused exclusively on building physical products.

It was held at Makerhaus, a Fremont design workshop, and brought together more than 80 people from all walks of life some experienced designers, some business leaders, some with nothing more than an idea to meet people, collaborate and bring their designs to fruition. A 12-year-old girl led a team that developed an automated tabletop greenhouse that uses cameras and sensors to upload live data to the cloud. It won the events Most Kickstart-able Award.

That an event like this could even happen is a testament to Makerhaus. Opened last February by husband and wife Mike and Ellie Kemery, the 10,000-square-foot workspace is essentially an open laboratory for designers, professional or otherwise.

Some of the obstacles facing designers are access to equipment and access to education, Ellie Kemery says. Our goal was to bring down barriers by providing access to everyone.

Makerhaus provides classes available to all levels of experience. For a fee, designers can go to Makerhaus to work in the metal or woodworking shops, browse the materials library, use the computers with the latest design software, or work in the rapid prototyping lab, complete with laser-fabrication equipment and what Mike Kemery likes to call a buffet of 3D-printers.

For the smaller or aspiring designer, the advantages are obvious: Makerhaus has shouldered the cost of the capital-intensive equipment, keeping overhead down and allowing designers to focus on their craft.

Smaller designers are already seeing benefit. Darin Montgomerys Urbancase had been producing highly praised furniture in its South Park studio, but he saw the benefits of relocating under the Makerhaus roof earlier this year. There were two reasons for my decision, Montgomery explains. I wanted to have access to equipment that I didnt want to own, and I wanted to be in a design environment that was more of a community.

Montgomery prototypes much of his work, sending his finished designs out for fabrication elsewhere, so he says it doesnt make sense to own $100,000 wood- and metal-working tools just for that purpose.

Plus, as a designer, much of his creative process takes place alone in his studio and sometimes I just didnt feel the creative energy.

Ellie Kemery says shell see Montgomery roaming around Makerhaus from time to time, taking advantage of the creative give-and-take he never got when he was working solo in the studio. That, she says, may be Makerhauss greatest benefit of all.