MakeX, a City of Palo Alto teen project, is a makerspace run by students for students. Offering free access to laser cutters, 3d printers, shop tools, and materials, MakeX aims to cultivate the maker mindset in Bay Area youth.

In 2012 I co-founded MakeX, a makerspace that is a home to students across the Bay Area. As a co-founder, I managed our student mentors, prepared annual budgets and reports, and worked directly with City of Palo Alto department directors to keep MakeX open to the Bay Area community.

I mentored students on projects using design thinking processes, teaching design software, instructing how to use shop tools, and guiding students through creative exploration. I specialized in 3D printing, laser cutting, and Solidworks instruction.

In addition to mentoring students during open hours, I organized several outreach events demos at local libraries, workshops for girls, and design thinking workshops.

In 2016 and 2017, we hosted the Girls Make workshop, an weekend event where middle school girls come to MakeX to learn the basics of design thinking and skills including vinyl sticker cutting, soldering, and laser cutting. Above is a gif of the last activity, where the girls where challenged with using their creativity to make usable cardboard furniture.


Students from the Girls Make Workshop with their furniture.


Co-founder James Wang teaches soldering during the Girls Make workshop


MakeX hosted several demos for local libraries; this one in 2014 at the grand opening of the Mitchell Park Library. We ran small activities laser cutting customized nametags and cutting vinyl stickers.


Students hanging out at MakeX on a Friday afternoon.


Sticky note identification of MakeX values during our workshop hosted by Charlotte Burgess-Auburn the Stanford d.School.


Poster designed for our presentation at the Fab Learn international education conference at Stanford.


Thomas is a MakeX regular. He started coming to MakeX in 2014 when he was in sixth grade and has been coming consistently ever since. In this photo he's 3D printing space invader aliens that he designed in Solidworks after just a little bit of my help. He had some trouble with the part scaling but figured it out in no time.



Sample projects completed at MakeX
nathankau.com
Palo Alto, California