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How to Get Involved

What are you waiting for? Come turn your ideas into reality.

Contact ScienceMakerLab@wlu.ca or 519.884.0710 x2413 regarding any of the following to book a session or discuss a project.

Science Maker Lab Tour

Come into the Science Maker Lab and see the space, the tools and some cool things made by other students. You’ll also get to meet the staff.

This can be as quick at five to 10 minutes or a couple of hours, depending on what you want to know and how many questions you have.

Intro to CAD Session

CAD is the tool that turns your idea into a file that the Laser Cutter or 3D printer can actually make. SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD is the industry standard and it is an extremely powerful tool to have in your arsenal, whether you’re designing a component for a space mission or trying to figure out what wood you need to buy to build a deck at your new house.

A napkin or white-board sketch is a good first prototype, but an accurate 3D CAD drawing can really accelerate the process of getting from sketch to reality.

As such, for most students, this is their starting point in the Science Maker Lab.

These visits typically take about two to three hours and include:

  • An overview of the lab’s resources.
  • A CAD training session that is beginner-friendly and leaves you with the skills needed to start doing independent designing on a state-of-the-art 3D CAD. This takes you from understanding how the CAD makes shapes and what the most common errors you’ll come across are caused by right through to drawing your first 2 piece, interlocking assembly.
  • The skills covered in this session cover most of what is needed to design all but the most complex components and assemblies.
  • Note that we also teach a 2D CAD that is a very powerful tool for optimizing cut files for the laser cutter.
  • All CAD introductory lessons are available in video format on the Science Maker Lab MYLS page.

At end of the two-hour session, if you choose to, you can leave with a copy of whatever you designed, brought to life by either the 3D printer or the laser cutter!

Adobe Creative Suite Training

Creating promotional materials is an important part of starting a business, and in the early days, when you are bootstrapping, the high cost of getting it done by the pros can be prohibitive. As such, the Science Maker Lab maintains a full license to the entire Adobe Creative Suite, where you can make videos, audio, web sites, animations, logos and edit photos – all on the same software that the high priced professionals use.

We currently offer lessons in Premiere Pro (video editing – approx. two hours) and Audition (audio editing for spoken word – approx. two hours), live, over Zoom and asynchronously via MYLS and we will be adding more Adobe Creative Suite training as time allows.

Long Term Projects

Long term projects are handled on a case by case basis as each of them has their own unique requirements and constraints. We are set up for training/skill development and prototyping, but the Science Maker Lab is not ideally suited for production or warehousing. When you get to that point, you’ve out-grown us!

Technical Consults

If it can be made and it serves a purpose, we already like it!

We love to hear about your ideas. We can possibly speed you along by helping you learn from those who have come before you, by even connecting you with others with the same interests or even introducing you to experts in the field you’re exploring.