New Perspectives at UCLA X UCI Makerspace Event
By Riley Kubaska and Lauren Poehling
We had such an exciting time at the first event of its kind: a collaboration between FAST at UCLA and the Fashion and Sneakers Club at UC Irvine. Students of all years and majors traveled minutes (or an hour) to come to the MakerSpace in Olympic Hall in order to attend one of three stations; the MakerSpace hosted jewelry making, tote bag design, and laser cutting keychains.
The MakerSpace in Olympic is a dynamic launchpad for a diverse range of students to function as creatives:
“The learning centers aim to bring tech-based resources to all students on campus. It doesn't matter your major, it doesn't matter if you live on or off campus… the learning centers offer places like the MakerSpace along with another learning center that focuses on music, another one that focuses on gaming… so all sorts of creative outlets for students to explore. Each space is staffed with student staff members so that people can come into the space and learn about all of the tech and all the stuff that we have! We do a lot of programming like we do today where we kind of work with students and do passion projects. We also support curriculum as well as research projects so whether you're trying to do schoolwork or just come in and have fun this is the place.”
Inside the MakerSpace, the possibilities are endless as to what equipment and technologies students can use.
“This 3D printer just basically heats up and squeezes out hot molten filament through a nozzle and then it builds up layer by layer. For 3D models we have something called an SLA printer which prints in resin layer by layer so people can have really high details. We also have a powder printer which prints in nylon and is reserved for research.”
Photo by Jacob Ursua (@jursuaphoto)
“Over in another area is the soft goods work area which is one of the more popular areas of the makerspace because of the sewing machines that seem really accessible and make a really easy entryway into the Makerspace. In a different space we have the shop area which includes woodworking, some metal working, some CNC machines (CNC stands for computer numeric control) … so everything in here excluding our embroidery machines is tied into tech so you create things digitally and they’re produced on machines.”
After getting familiar with the space, it was exciting to begin seeing what individual stories people had, and their experiences with fashion and each school’s respective club. What brought everyone to attending this event? Strong leadership is a key aspect in what made this UCLA x UCI collaboration happen, as well as the vibrancy of each club on its own. We talked to Sky, the President of FS at UCI, to begin understanding her perspective. She originally joined the club “ (when) it was actually really small because it was established the year before I joined. But I was on the board just as the social media manager and then the president was graduating so I recognized that someone has to take that role and I thought this club has a lot of potential to be something really big. So, I took that presidency so that I can actually create something and build a fashion community at UCI.” One of the most impactful and memorable things she recounts of the club is when “we did a collaboration with Anteater Photography which is like our photography club where we set up photographers with members from our club who were models, and we went to downtown LA and just went around and took photos together. We even did a little slideshow of all the pictures which all turned out really great and everyone loved it! We also did a social with Cal State Fullerton’s fashion club and everyone loved that too. Everyone was super friendly, and everyone got to know each other and formed new friend groups after that event so that was really successful and fun.”
In fact, Sky’s impact in organizing an event like this was felt by her fellow club members. When we asked Pierre and Mark, members of FS at UCI, what their most memorable experience was in their club, they said, “We went to DTLA and were just shopping at bodegas and walking around, it was a good time. We did a collaboration with the photography club and we did photoshoots and stuff. I do usually feel like the field trips are the most fun.” They agreed the photography collaboration was an experience to remember.
We took it over to our members at FAST at the jewelry station to understand how they were enjoying this collaboration. We first spoke to Nancy, the co-director of the design committee. She too was excited about how new this event concept is, saying, “This is the first event like this I’ve ever seen too, we did collaborate with MakerSpace here on campus before but not with other schools like this.” While we were learning about her perspective in the club, she was creating jewelry at the jewelry-making station. Her inspiration behind her designs at this event? “I’ve been seeing these big heart necklaces over my feed, but I’m also really inspired by Victorian-era pearl type, Vivienne Westwood inspired jewelry.”
Over at the laser cutting keychain zone, speaking to Pierre and Mark also was interesting to hear their perspectives and what they decided to create. We asked what they were up to at this station and if they had any major inspiration: “I have no clue yet, I had so many ideas… I should get my name, or maybe Spiderman? I’m trying to do artwork but it’s tricky because the constraint is that the lines can’t be too complicated; I’m trying to print a design from a manga today.” The creativity UCI students brought into the stations was really cool to see.
Finally, we popped back over to the tote bag station to see how UCLA and UCI students were honing in their design skills. We spoke to Ella of FAST’s modeling committee to see what she was up to. She decided on this station because “I have a million totes… so I figured designing one of my own would be a cool way of adding to my expanding collection. I’ll probably keep it simple with a quote or words, maybe something abstract or asymmetrical?” For Ella, her best memories of FAST are from the iconic runway show. She said that, “The show last year was a really, really cool experience. I thought seeing the backstage operations combined with the way things were put together, the creativity and the joy in the designers’ faces while seeing all the lines come together during the show really helped make some of the best memories in FAST. Really cool people, dedicated, and creative people are part of FAST.”
Photo by Jacob Ursua (@jursuaphoto)
Visiting each station at the UCLA x UCI MakerSpace collaboration not only taught so many new skills in the field of technology and fashion, but more importantly put on display the heart-and-soul of what makes each club so important at each university. The stories and joyful memories each student has really speak as testament to the impact of FAST and FS at UCI. We’re excited to see what type of collaborations like these happen in the future!