By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Fort Hays State University Makerspace is having an open house with free activities and demonstrations from 3 to 6 p.m. March 5.
The renovation of Forsyth Library has resulted in the Makerspace moving to Picken Hall 102. The open house is to introduce people to the new space.
No registration is required. Door prizes and refreshments also will be offered.
Demonstrations include the 3D printer, 3D scanner, desktop mill, laser cutter, vinyl cutter, robots, ozobots, and a thermal camera. Activities will include stickers, buttons, stomp rockets, and origami.
"What I'm finding out now is how much origami is used now to deploy satellites and do a lot of packing, " Paul Adams, dean of the College of Education, said. "Although it's an ancient art form, it's now a modern technology."
The Makerspace has makers cards, which are challenges. You might be challenged to make a marionette from paper, straws and string.
"It's technology from the lowest of what we would consider crafts. We have sewing machines down there. ... Up to soldering to make your own electronics," Adams said.
Children are welcome and encouraged to attend the open house.
The Makerspace will have a series of activities through April where visitors of all ages can make items. See the flyer below for times, dates and activities or visit www.fhsu.edu/smei.
The Makerspace only charges the cost of materials, which aren't very expensive, Adams said.
FHSU also sponsors a monthly Science Cafe´ lecture. The next lecture will be "Snakes in Jars: Using Museum Specimens to Discover News Species and Test Evolution" at 7 p.m. March 18 at The Venue at Thirsty's. The presenter will be Jackson Roberts, zoology collections manager of the Sternberg Museum of Natural History.
Snakes that have been collected over decades are still being used in research today, Adams said.
The Western Kansas Lego Robotics Competition will be on March 25 in the Memorial Union. The competition is open to students in grades five through eight.
It's partially funded through a NASA space grant, Adams said.
Twenty-five schools are coming with 315 students and more than 100 robots, with each team competing in at least one of five events.
"One of the events that gets everyone cheering is the sumo bot competition that starts at 1 o'clock," Adams said. "It's something to see — a whole ballroom of people cheering and 100 plus robots going at it with the sumo bots."
The students also have a line sorter competition, and the robots must follow a line of M&Ms ... if the kids don't eat them first.
The students will compete with catapults for the first time this year.
Enrollment for science and math summer camps opened on Monday. You can find more at www.fhsu.edu/smei.
During a math camp, students desgin a business and use their math skills to run their businesses.
New this yeat is a Folklore and Fairytale Camp. Students will create their own short story through 2D illustration, 3D image scanning and designing their own 3D model.
Adams encouraged adults with science degrees who might be interested in teaching to apply for more than $22,500 in scholarships through the Post-Baccalaureate STEM Teacher Program.
The curriculum is delivered all online. Graduates must complete two years of teaching in a rural school.
"We really do encourage anyone with a science degree who's thinking about a career change to talk to us because we have the money from the National Science Foundation to help them to make that life transition and make a difference."
For more information, contact Imelda Koenke at 785-628-4144 or [email protected].