Valerie visits makespace in Cambridge

On Friday 26 April 2013 Valerie visited makespace on Mill Lane in Cambridge as part of the Indusrty and Parliament Trust Fellowship.

Valerie said:

“I had to opportunity to visit makespace in Cambridge. This is a community workspace that facilitates people making, learning and working on projects together. There is a monthly fee that provides unlimited access to all of the cutting edge equipment that the centre has to offer. makespace provides an environment for existing and new business to succeed without the high start up cost the latest equipment would cost. It is also an aim of makespace to raise awareness of the skills needed in engineering and manufacturing.”

“I was shown the range of the latest rapid prototyping equipment such as 3D printers and laser cutters that makespace has. The provision of these various technologies allows the makespace members to go from a design on a computer to a full and working prototype in minutes. I was shown the design for a model spacecraft on a computer that was printed out in 3D in front of me. This means that companies can try out their ideas for commercial development and refine the design before a large scale production.”

Further information about makespace can be found here: http://makespace.org/