Made In Workshop has big changes coming – 1 100m² of changes, in fact. The makerspace is moving into a new premises that’s almost three times bigger than the current workshop, while close to R1 500 000 has been invested in brand-new, industrial-grade workshop equipment.
To understand where the Maker Movement is today in South Africa, and where it may be heading, we need to go back to its African inception in 2009.
“Never angle grind in frustration,” says Craig Bartlett, a regular at Made In Workshop who had a scorching experience in the makerspace.
What happened to those plyers you left lying around – the ones you need right this second? Henry happened. What happened to that piece of paper you scribbled all your design notes on? Henry happened.
For Brad Johnston, the founder and owner of industrial design consultancy Design For Industry in Lonehill, industrial design is a challenging industry in South Africa – but Made In Workshop is a major boon.
Nik has a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand and he is currently doing his master’s part-time. As part of his master’s, he had to find a way to make 3D-metal printed products last longer.
Henry Levine is on a mission: if you’re a parent, he wants you to know that schools don’t need a humungous budget to bring robotics to life. In fact, he’s designed a robot that can be made in a classroom for under R200 a pop.
When you think about concrete, you probably think about pillars and brutish structures. Well, what if you were given the challenge to come up with something innovative using concrete? This was exactly what Alex Shahini faced when he and a good buddy, Brayden Solomon, decided to enter the 2019 PPC Imaginarium Awards.
At the end of every month, Henry Levine’s mother would go to Benmore Gardens shopping centre to get her groceries. She’d fill her shopping trolley, pay, and then push the trolley to her 18-wheeler fully articulated Mercedes-Benz lorry, where she’d proceed to unload the groceries into the back of the trailer. The car guard would guide her out of the parking bay and into Grayston Drive, and she would be on her way.
From ‘vuvulisers’ (a vuvuzela breathalyser) to building a tunnel for toads (don’t ask), finding ways to bring the wild and innovative to life is what gets Emile Dippenaar and Daniel Carstens up in the mornings.
10 Naaf Street,
Strydompark, Randburg
Johannesburg
Monday to Thursday: 8am – 10pm
Friday: 8am – 8pm
Saturday: 9am – 6pm
Sunday: Closed
Public Holiday: Closed
010 745 1577
[email protected]
