Ukrainian NGO to host maker and invention fair in Kyiv
"Nothing will stop Ukrainian makers. Their time has come!" says Maker Hub, a public organization that will hold the first invention and creativity fair during the war, called Kyiv Maker Faire, this weekend.
What's the problem?
Ukraine will need many techies and engineers to rebuild and develop post-war. People who understand technology, know how to use it, and enjoy working with their hands don't just appear out of thin air. The maker and invention field, involving recognized experts and innovators, must develop to provide creative Ukrainians with opportunities.
What's the solution?
The public organization "Maker Hub," with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science, the Minor Academy of Sciences, and GIZ Ukraine, announces the Kyiv Maker Faire festival. This event will bring together engineers, inventors, startups, entrepreneurs, designers, students, and schoolchildren interested in science, creativity, and the latest technologies.
The fest will take place on Saturday, March 2, at the National Technical University "Kyiv Polytechnic." Admission is free, but registration is required.
How does it work?
"Show and tell"
Kyiv Mini Maker Faire — 2018
Maker Faire is a mix of science, IT, and crafts, meeting engineers, crafters, and technical enthusiasts of all ages. Makers come to Maker Faire to share what they do and be inspired by what others do. Through this communication, new ideas are born, and the philosophy of creation and invention is popularized. The event is created for everyone who has long wanted to improve their knowledge of science and technology, communicate with like-minded people, and present their work.
"Maker Faire is a sustainable international format; there have been several such fairs worldwide. This is our sixteenth Ukrainian fair," says Yurii Vlasiuk, co-organizer of the Kyiv Maker Faire. "The goal is to unite the community and provide a platform for communication. The format we implement is the Greatest Show&Tell. Through demonstration and communication at the fair, more people become interested in industrial hobbies and professions, engineering, and find clubs and maker spaces they can visit after the fair or teams working on interesting industrial tasks."
Who will find it interesting?
At the festival, you can present your project to like-minded people passionate about science and making, meet makers, scientists, engineers, and educators, fully experience the maker movement, and get inspired by new ideas.
It's also a great idea to spend a Saturday in an interesting and useful way by visiting the event with family, friends, or children.
"We joke in the team that Kyiv Maker Faire will be interesting 'to kids from 5 to 105 years old,' but in reality, considering the diversity of participants, it will be interesting to a wide range of visitors, from programmers and lawyers to people thinking about their project or retraining, educators and people without special knowledge but with an interest in learning something new," says Yurii Vlasiuk.
Visitors to the fair can attend a series of workshops on rocket modeling, 3D printing with clay, programming a smart home, and basic robot programming,
The KIDS' BUILDING STUDIO, a children's club of historical and technical modeling, will share its creative projects.
Odesa Polytechnic will showcase the Formula Student ONPU racing car, which university students fully designed, constructed, and built.
The Educational and Scientific Institute of Mechanical Engineering of the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute will present the VeloArc automated bike parking project at the fair. This parking will not only protect your vehicle from adverse weather conditions but also improve the city's infrastructure and ecology by creating a convenient smart system for environmentally friendly transport.
"Our task as organizers is to gather as diverse participants as possible. Kyiv Maker Faire has already received more than 60 registrations in the most diverse categories — from ceramic art to underwater robots," says Yurii Vlasiuk.
Does it really work?
According to the organizers, it is already a great result if a person simply buys a tool after the fair and starts doing something at home for themselves, not even for sale. But they also follow the success stories of festival participants.
"The war scattered teams that presented their projects at pre-war fairs, but many engineers and craftsmen now work in production companies and apply their knowledge," Vlasiuk shared. "For example, the Robotics School has launched an educational product that is already being sold in the US. The Space Cossacks company has developed and exported the MySat Kit educational set for studying satellites. Most small manufacturers now produce and sell wood and metal products."
Why does Ukraine need this during the war?
"Maker fairs are needed at all times; they have special meaning and impact. First of all, it's a center for quality and interesting communication, which Ukrainians have missed a lot, a community of like-minded people and dissidents at the same time," said Vlasiuk. "It's not mainly about sales but about ideas, involvement, and cooperation. Fairs are about education; people come to learn something useful. Kyiv Maker Faire is also a powerful psychological support that stimulates ingenuity and self-reliance. Of course, fairs are about economic development."
When and where?
March 2, at the National Technical University "Kyiv Polytechnic Institute."
Admission to the festival is free. You can register and get a ticket for entry here.
There are bomb shelters at the fair in case of an air raid alert. They are located in the library building and neighboring buildings.
In related news, the State University "Zhytomyr Polytechnic" began selecting participants for the BGV HARDWARE ACCELERATOR — an acceleration program supporting tech startups.
