Where can you make a shaving kit holder, a 3D-printed prototype of an idea you’ve always had, and an experimental device to provide reliable power to those in need? Where can you be the creator of the next tech startup born on a college campus, a mad scientist of music and a problem solver? Students looking for these opportunities have found the tools to achieve them in the Makerspace of Small Hall 143.
Physics professors Wouter Deconinck and Josua Erlich don’t seem to care much whether students’ inventions will be silly or serious. As founders and managers of the College of William and Mary’s own Makerspace, they simply wish that students try, learn and make.
An idea that emerged from a conversation at a party, the Makerspace launched in January 2014 with strong support from administration and input from students about what gadgets they would want in a new…