How to acquire engineering skills as any major: a Q&A with the associate director of the Idea Forge

As the spring semester begins, it’s a great time to discover a new hobby or develop existing skills on campus. 

The Idea Forge, located in the Miramontes Baca Education Building on campus, is open to every University of Colorado Boulder student who is interested in learning the arts of woodworking, sewing, prototyping, 3D printing and electronics.

During the school year, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Fridays, faculty members and student employees are available to help interested students master engineering techniques and processes they might not have known were available to them.

Haley Passov, a recent graduate who works at the Idea Forge, believes the space is beneficial to all students, not just engineering majors learning the trade.

“[The Forge is] a great place for students to come and learn things that they don’t get access to in their day-to-day classes,” Passov said. “There’s a lot you can do in here that [you wouldn’t normally learn in] school.”

Student journalist Grace Ptak sat down with Becky Komarek, the associate director of the Idea Forge, to talk about how to access the space, what the forge offers and why places like this are important. 

 

Q: Tell me about yourself– what is your position in relation to the shop?

I have been here since the Idea Forge opened eight years ago. My role is the associate director.

My background is actually as a civil engineer. I worked as a structural engineer for a few years and then came back to work in education. And I’ve worked as an academic advisor, as well as my current role here, where I also teach two classes that are related to design and design prototyping, as well. 

Q: What is the general purpose of this space?

We refer to ourselves as the campus design and prototyping facility. So, if you’re a business student, you have, say, an entrepreneurial idea — you want to build something. We encourage you to come over.

I can help you get access to the best resources that exist here or on campus.

Q: What kinds of tools and machines can students access in the Forge?

We do have a machine shop and a welding shop, [but] those are for engineering courses.

We have standard sewing machines like you might have at home, [and] we also have industrial sewing machines for thicker materials like canvas.

We have everything woodworking-related. [Those machines are] open to everyone– saws; drills. Come talk to us. We’ll figure out how to do it. We have 3D printing. We have a laser cutter.

We have a full electronics lab. So, making things move, light up, etc. Our engineer that runs that space can help folks learn how to use Arduinos or Raspberry Pi’s… which would then be able to power sensors, like moisture sensors, pressure sensors — things like that.

We have a room where you can come and paint things or varnish things [and] make a mess. [We] have a well-ventilated room for that.

We have conference rooms to reserve as well, as space to just drop in. And in those spaces, we also host events. So, student groups can reserve the spaces if they have a speaker coming or they want to do a movie night, etc. We have, just, spaces to rent for free to students to run those types of events.

[We] have a cabinet that is full of craft materials. So, if you want to build your first prototype out of cardboard or Legos or foam, you can just show up and do that during our open hours and just dive into that cabinet and use whatever you’d like.

Something else to know is that we do have tools that are just around. So if you need a screwdriver or wrench or something, you can just come and take them.

Q: Are all the machines and resources in the Forge accessible to all students?

So, we have a machine shop and welding shop downstairs. Because our capacity is very, very limited there and there are certain obligations to courses… we can only do classwork in the machine shop and welding shop. 

So [those areas are] not open to the public. Woodworking, sewing, electronics, 3D printing, etc. are open to everyone for anything, [including] personal projects.

For 3D printing and electronics, [if you have] questions, just show up and seek the individuals who are working. You can show up, and we will show you how to 3D print, step by step, on the part that you want to create.

For the woodshop in particular, there is a [required] Saws and Drills workshop that is free. We want you to take that as a safety precaution. We want you to understand how our equipment works — understand our safety expectations. [The Saws and Drills workshop] is the only one that is required before you can utilize that space. 

Q: Do you offer other non-required workshops?

[Yes.] One of our most popular workshops is a Packable Hammock workshop. So, students can sew their own hammock… essentially it’s a beginner workshop. I mean, it takes a little bit of time, but at the end, you’ve gotten to pick out all of the colors that you like for your hammock; you have a functioning hammock that you can use around campus.

Q: How can you sign up to take a workshop?

Everything for the workshop sign-up is online. So if you go to the Idea Forge website, there’s a big button that says “Workshops [& Videos],” and all of the ones that are upcoming are available there. 

Q: Do you offer introductory tours of the Forge?  

We do offer tours [during the school year], Monday through Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Anyone who would like to take a tour can meet at the front desk, which is by the east entrance [near] the volleyball court down there. One of our student employees will guide the tour.

Q: Is there anything newcomers should know about the Forge before coming to try it out? 

We are not a quiet facility. So, some students really love working here, and they like having the ambient noise. But for students who really want that silent library-type study location, we might not be the best bet. 

Q: What are the benefits of this shop to students, including non-engineering majors?

Having this kind of facility can allow students to incorporate hands-on learning into their education. To some extent, [the student must decide] to take some steps, meaning to take a first workshop on how to learn to sew, for example, but by doing that, they have the opportunity to, oftentimes, meet students from other disciplines, and then also to build something with their hands. That’s not something that is incorporated into every educational track, but it’s something that is useful to know how to do. I think that it can be empowering and also fun.

Building things with your hands can be a lesson in patience and also a lesson in perseverance or resilience. Like, ‘I don’t know how to do this. I’m starting from zero knowledge, but I’m willing to put in the work to learn.’ I think those types of skills are very useful to anyone, no matter what they’re studying. 

There have been studies that show that [building something for fun] can be a therapeutic thing. I know students are pretty stressed these days; I know that mental health is a serious issue among the collegiate population. We can be a place [for students] to use a different part of their brain for a little while, and generally, people are super proud of something that they made themselves.