{"id":910,"date":"2019-05-21T19:32:56","date_gmt":"2019-05-22T02:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/?p=910"},"modified":"2019-05-21T19:32:56","modified_gmt":"2019-05-22T02:32:56","slug":"urban-workshop-sets-high-bar-for-makerspaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/general\/urban-workshop-sets-high-bar-for-makerspaces\/","title":{"rendered":"Urban Workshop Sets High Bar for Makerspaces"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u00b7        \nAutodesk\nFusion 360 Software<\/a> -Free Fusion 360 software for Urban Workshop and for all members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

After the NACCE summit I attended on April 27th<\/sup>\nformally ended at 1:30 PM, I went on the optional tour of a nearby makerspace,\nthe Urban Workshop<\/a> in Costa Mesa.\nIt is the largest makerspace I have visited in my travels around the country\nand is the largest makerspace in southern California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUrban\nworkshop was born out of my engineering and manufacturing company called\nAutomotive Technology Group Inc., which opened in 2001. Prior to the economic\ndownturn, we were one of the top EV and hybrid vehicle engineering houses in\nthe country doing advanced R&D for the large auto makers and smaller\nstartups such as Fisker Automotive. We also did a small number of professional\nmotorsports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nthe economy slowed, most of the engineering services and manufacturing dried up\nbut the motorsport business swelled. The rich guys who were racing cars weren\u2019t\naffected by the downturn of the economy so we did well. Around January 2013, I\nstarted doing STEM presentations to kids at local high schools and colleges to\ntell them about the race cars hoping to peak their interest in the sciences. I\nhad heard about makerspaces and started asking some of the teachers their\nopinion about them. Jokingly, they started to introduce me as the guy who is\nopening \u201cThe Shop.\u201d  I didn\u2019t correct\nthem, and before I knew it, people were showing up at ATG asking if this was \u201cThe\nShop\u201d and if it was open yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Urban Workshop was founded by, and is privately owned by, Steve Trindade. <\/strong>During the tour, Steve told the story of how he started the makerspace, and later emailed me the following story:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“By January 2014, I had become very frustrated with the engineering services business due to customers not paying or going out of business leaving me holding the bag. Simultaneously, three to five people per week were stopping by to look for \u201cThe Shop.\u201d That was when I decided to go for it. We wound down the projects we were working on, and signed a lease for a 5,500 square foot R&D space in May 2014.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve\nsaid, \u201cOur facility was basically built, painted, and set up by volunteers.\nPeople who walked in the front door and asked, is this \u201cThe Shop?\u201d  I said, It\u2019s Urban Workshop, but we aren\u2019t\nopen yet. Almost always they replied, can I help? I said yes, and put them to\nwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe end, we renovated the facility and got ready to open with nearly all volunteer\nhelp. Using all volunteer help, we set up the new facility and opened as Urban\nWorkshop on July 2014. We had a similar experience with volunteer help when we\nmoved into our current larger building in April 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since\nthen, the business has grown significantly, and our membership is over 1,700. Our\nsmall business members do approximately $20M in annual revenue directly out of\nour facility, and collectively they have raised nearly $70M in angel and\nventure funding. In 2015, we added youth programing similar to the old school\nshop classes and now serve over 1,000 students age 10 to 16 years old annually.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nwas impressed by the kind of equipment and resources the Urban Workshop\nprovides. It is a full-scale DIY workshop and makerspace meaning that it\nincludes all aspects of engineering, prototyping and manufacturing equipment.  Steve said, \u201cWe have nearly $1M worth of\nequipment and because we used to be a professional services company, all of the\nequipment is current state of the art industry relevant equipment as opposed to\nthe typical hobby level equipment you find in all other makerspaces. We teach\nclasses on all the equipment and continue to add classes as fast as we can\ngenerate the course materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nequipment I saw on the tour included computers and software, large format\nplotters and printers, 3D printers, laser etchers, sheet metal fabrication\nequipment, manual and CNC machines, MIG and TIG welding, a vacuum forming\nmachine, an autoclave, a silicone molding pressure pot, an extensive wood shop\nwith a large CNC router, a composites fabrication shop, a vinyl cutter, sewing\nequipment, an electronics lab, and an auto shop with five auto lifts.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On their\nwebsite, the following companies are listed as commercial partners\/supporters:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Epilog Laser Etchers<\/a> – Educational pricing on equipment and extended warranty support to Urban Workshop<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nI asked what “Making” meant to him, he said, \u201cIn one word,\nopportunity. Opportunity for our members to learn new skills, open a new\nbusiness, fix something, help others, learn a new skill, make a new friend,\ncomplete a personal project or who knows what. It has been very satisfying to\nwatch people come in the shop with one idea and end up making five more things\nthey never thought of before on equipment they have never used before with the\nhelp of someone they met at Urban Workshop.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7        \nHaas\nCNC Machines<\/a> Educational\npricing on equipment, extended warranty support, free computerized training and\nsimulation station to Urban Workshop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Autodesk HSMWorks<\/a> Free HSMWorks CNC programming software for members to use on site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 SolidWorks<\/a>– Free engineering software for members to use on site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7        \nLaguna Tools<\/a> – Educational pricing on equipment, software and extended warranty\nsupport to Urban Workshop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7        \nNational\nInstruements<\/a> – Free\nVirtual Bench all-in-one test equipment and LabView software for members to use\non site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ingersoll-Rand<\/a> – Educational discount on machine tooling and fixtures to Urban Workshop.\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve\nsaid, \u201cThe initial response to Urban Workshop was o<\/strong>verwhelmingly positive, and the level of enthusiasm was\nincredible. The response continues to be great and the level of excitement and\ncomradery continues to grow. Almost weekly a member comes to my office to thank\nme for opening the shop and enabling them to be able to make their dream\nproject or start their new business. I knew this would be fun and satisfying,\nbut I never imagined the extent that it would be so well received.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One\nother observation he made is that whether you call it hacking, making, or tinkering,\n\u201cthe desire people have to use their hands is universal and fundamental. It is\nextremely satisfying to figure something out, address a problem or need one has\nor create something from scratch. I believe it has a therapeutic value and\nallows one to focus on something for a time without distraction. This is something\nthat is unusual in these days of smart phones and social networking.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\ndescribing the projects his members are working on, he said, \u201cTheyvaryjust as much as the members do. We have young professionals who\nare starting their own businesses all the way to the \u201cburning man\u201d crowd. It is\nimpossible to nail it down and give a simple example. I have seen everything\nfrom ruggedized super tablets designed and manufactured in the shop to an\nArduino controlled dog feeder and a talking Wi-Fi enabled Christmas tree. Urban\nWorkshop\u2019s membership is approximately 45% startups developing and\nmanufacturing new products, 40% hobbyist, and 15% students. The hobbyists are\nthe most diverse and work on home projects, vehicle restorations, boats,\nmotorcycles, gifts, tons of wood working and cabinetry, arts and crafts,\nholiday decorations, cosplay, prop making, toys, and you name it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nI asked what his future plans are, he said, \u201cOur long term the goal is to open\nadditional locations. Currently, we are expanding our class offering to include\nmany more project classes that will help guide people on the path of making.\nThe youth program continues to grow, and additional levels will be added. Our\nmost promising new product is the licensing of our operational procedures and\nclass documentation to other makerspaces world-wide, providing operational\ntraining, and instructor training to enable them to prosper and help even more\npeople.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve\nonly visited one other makerspace about which I wrote, Vocademy in Riverside,\nthat had a plan to expand to other locations, but its focus was on working with\nhigh schools to provide the career technical training that high schools used to\nprovide.  With the depth and breadth of\nSteve\u2019s business experience, he is more likely to succeed with his future plans\nthan others.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00b7         Autodesk Fusion 360 Software -Free Fusion 360 software for Urban Workshop and for all members. After the NACCE summit I attended on April 27th formally ended at 1:30 PM, I went on the optional tour of a nearby makerspace, the Urban Workshop in Costa Mesa. It is the largest makerspace I have visited in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=910"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":913,"href":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910\/revisions\/913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}