Creativity and Innovation on Display at Spring 2025 TechMade Symposium
May 7, 2025
By Chloe Arrington
The George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering's Spring 2025 TechMade Symposium: Elevating Georgia Tech's Maker Culture brought together students, faculty, and staff to explore research and activities conducted in makerspaces on campus and discuss strategies for elevating the maker culture across Georgia Tech.
TechMade is an initiative across the colleges of engineering, business, and design. Supported by the college's deans, it gives students hands-on exposure to product realization, from design to manufacturing, regardless of their major. The goal is to unify the widespread design and creation opportunities on campus while building a collaborative design community for students and researchers across the Institute.
The event, which took place in April, kicked off with an insightful presentation from keynote speaker Kai James, associate professor in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering. He spoke about his recent work on the historical innovation of the wheel, showcasing a fascinating intersection between engineering, history, and archaeology.
Several students participated in a poster session where they showcased items designed and built in the makerspaces on campus–ranging from lightsabers and stormtrooper helmets to musical instruments and bicycles. Among these innovative displays, students received four awards for their creations.
Adriano Bayz, Jada Crockett, Max Kornegay, and Stacy Ross received the Best in Show award for their maker kits, which contain a crochet project that explores its parallels with coding. These kits empower affordable education and include the resources to integrate hands-on STEM learning.
Dingmohen Li was awarded Best Presentation for his adaptive-fit motocross goggles. These goggles replace the traditional foam insert with a 3D-printed lattice structure, allowing for a more precise fit tailored to the wearer’s face.
Best in Show: Crochet kits that teach coding
Best Presentation: Adaptive-fit motocross goggles
Lauren Thompson received the Creative Award for her project, “Me Chess,” a 3D-printed chess set featuring pieces modeled from scans of her own face. She also presented an electric guitar she built to help her learn to play.
"I've played the violin for years, but I've always wanted to learn the guitar, so why not build one?" said Thompson.
The Technical Award was presented to Oliver Loree for his custom-designed wooden hutch. Crafted from a single flat piece of wood, the hutch was scored to allow it to curve and featured a hand-cut honeycomb design on the top surface.
For Loree, both the challenge and learning a new skill inspired his build. "I was inspired to do this project because I wanted an artistic challenge, and I've been meaning to learn woodworking for way too long," he said.
Creative Award: Me Chess
Technical Award: Custom-designed wooden hutch
The event also featured lightning presentations from several speakers, including Amit Jariwala, Director of Design and Innovation in the Woodruff School; Julie Linsey, professor in the Woodruff School; Mohsen Moghaddam, Gary C. Butler Family Associate Professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering and the Woodruff School; Noah Posner, research scientist in the School of Industrial Design; Abigale Stangl, assistant professor in the School of Industrial Design, and Tim Trent, research technologist II in the Institute for People and Technology.
Speakers gave an overview of makerspaces operating on campus and discussed the advancements expected in areas like virtual and augmented reality, considerations for accessibility, and the impact of such spaces on education.
Woodruff Professor Carolyn Seepersad, who has championed TechMade since its inception and helped bring the program to fruition, is thankful for the support TechMade is receiving.
"I'm incredibly grateful to all of the speakers, alumni, and attendees who came together to highlight how we support design and fabrication across campus," she said.
The event concluded with a roundtable discussion during which attendees were encouraged to share their thoughts about how the makerspaces are utilized and what they hope to see from them in the future. A key takeaway was that besides educational benefits, these spaces create bonds beyond the academic. They foster friendships and inspire collaboration and innovation, aligning with TechMade's mission to build community across disciplines around human-centered design.
For more information on TechMade and its upcoming events, visit the TechMade website.
Woodruff Professor Carolyn Seepersad