More workshops at new makerspace in Flemingsberg
A new makerspace at KTH in Flemingsberg offers students new opportunities to do more practical engineering work and provides everything from 3D printers to a precision engineering workshop where students can build projects into products.
Industry is crying out for more engineering competence, says Sebastiaan Meijer, vice dean of KTH School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health (CBH) and head of Medical Technology and Health Systems at Flemingsberg. For example, practical knowledge of constructing and testing more real-world applications. A new makerspace at KTH will give students the opportunity to do this.
“Access to a makerspace will elevate the level of students’ knowledge. Here they can build objects that resemble finished products. This is part of giving them greater engineering skills as an add-on to theoretical teaching,” says Meijer.
A greater variety of studios
Makerspace Flemingsberg offers several different workshops or studios. It includes 12 bookable spaces where projects can be conducted for up to six months at a time, and four drop in spaces. A precision engineering workshop is equipped with tools and fixed workbenches. A dedicated 3D studio is equipped with several 3D printers with a range of capacities. Printed circuit boards are also available for students, as is a meeting room.
The opening of a makerspace can be seen as part of efforts to make KTH courses more widely available, explains Meijer. He anticipates a broader student intake which contributes to attracting more students with a practical background to its courses.
“These are the sort of people industry is lacking today, and we need to ensure there’s place for them in higher education.”
Pre-start last year
The centre opened last year, Meijer reveals. This made it possible for a group of Icelandic students to develop a sensor that helps cyclists to train smarter. The sensor is now being tested at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GiH) in Stockholm and further product development is being overseen by KTH Innovation.
Traditional makerspaces are open to the public, but this facility is primarily directed towards KTH students. The next step will be to make the centre available to other colleges in Flemingsberg as well as industry.
In five years, Meijer hopes that the centre will have helped to reshape teaching here and that more actors will have become involved.
“If we have some students that want to take something that they have developed further in their own business, you need to tap into other sorts of skill sets to do this. This can be an opportunity for entrepreneurial co-operation between students from different colleges.
To learn more about Makerspace Flemingsberg, visit: https://kth.instructure.com/courses/19538
