Nation of Makers gathering in Washington DC

Local makerspace Robot Garden attended the Nation of Makers event hosted by the Whitehouse and the Office of Science Technology Policy (OSTP) on August 24 2016. More than 200 makerspaces were represented, from all over the USA, including Hawaii and Alaska.

President Obama said, “America has always been a nation of tinkerers, inventors and entrepreneurs. In recent years, a growing number of Americans have gained access to technologies such as 3D printers, laser cutters, easy-to-use design software, and desktop machine tools. This, in combination with freely available information about how to use, modify, and build upon these technologies and the availability of crowd funding platforms, is enabling more Americans to design and build almost anything.”

The Nation of Makers event signaled a commitment to keeping the maker movement on the agenda regardless of the next administration.

“Empowering students and adults to create, innovate, tinker, and make their ideas and solutions into reality is at the heart of the Maker Movement. Since the first-ever White House Maker Faire, the White House has continued to support opportunities for students to learn about STEM through making, expand the resources available for maker entrepreneurs, and foster the development of advanced manufacturing in the U.S.”

Robot Garden will have a series of meetups going into more detail on various topics covered during the Nation of Makers event. Robot Garden is a not-for-profit 501c6 community makerspace in central Livermore. See http://robotgarden.org for opening hours and events.