Radford achieves important maker movement milestone

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Professor of Biology Jeremy Wojdak helps a young participant ready a robot for combat in the BattleBots competition, one of the Radford maker movement initiatives.

Radford University has been named a Make School by the Make School Alliance.

The maker movement is a national initiative combining technology-based, do-it-yourself creativity in a social environment oriented toward the creation of new electronic, robotic and 3-D printing devices among others.

Radford joins 47 other colleges and universities - such as Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Yale, Penn State and the University of Michigan - which are recognized nationally for a commitment to making and innovation and support of a generation of Americans who make.

MakeSchools.org is an online resource and network of higher education institutions that promote the value and impact of making on campuses and in their surrounding communities. Launched in 2014, the platform features contributed content from Radford among other diverse perspectives in American higher education on making.

“We have a dedicated and growing multidisciplinary group of faculty who are driving curricular and co-curricular programming, offering faculty development opportunities, workshops, engaging with the community and developing the RU Makers learning community set to open this upcoming fall,” said Assistant Provost for Academic Programs Jeanne Mekolichick. “As a Make School Alliance member, Radford will enjoy access to resources and connections that support our emerging maker movement, providing increased opportunities to our students and faculty.”

On campus and in the Radford community, Radford students and faculty connect across disciplines to share resources, experiment, innovate, create solutions to real-world problems and invent. Among the recent maker activities are:

  • October Film Challenge, sponsored by the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL)
  • Dronz start-up team project in Professor of Management Iain Clelland’s “Managing New Venture Creations” class
  • A maker-based physics course, called “Embedded Microcontrollers”  
  • 2015 Battlebots competition, a partnership between CITL, Radford City Schools and the Office of Academic Programs.

For the latest on the maker movement initiatives at Radford, please visit the Makers and Innovators website.

Jan 20, 2016