“70:30” has become a quip that Stevens students’ ears are trained to interpret as the current male-to-female gender ratio of the undergraduate student body. The business and engineering scenes tend to be male-dominated, and Sandra Clavijo, Director of Undergraduate Studies, recently made strides to close the gap.
Stevens launched its MakerSpace facility in Spring 2021 as a resource for students to explore personal interests and collaborate on academic projects. Located in ABS Engineering Center, the space contains a hobbyist’s essentials and an enthusiast’s gizmos galore. From automated tool cabinets to HoloLens headsets, the MakerSpace sandbox is only bounded by the ceiling of the user’s imagination.
Since the space’s advent, membership has been dominated by male students and faculty. Taking note of this disparity, Clavijo reached out to the Director of the MakerCenter, Paul McClelland, who recruited a dedicated team of individuals to fulfill Clavijo’s vision. The inaugural Women’s MakerSpace workshop took place on November 17, 2022. This historic workshop was led by civil engineering student and machine shop employee Lily Stevenson ’23, with support from fellow machine shop employees Nataly Jimenez ’26 and Alicia Kearney ’26, who study computer science and mechanical engineering, respectively.
Stevenson led the five workshop attendees through a guided tour of the MakerSpace before diving into in-depth tutorials on available equipment. While many of the existing members of the MakerSpace utilize the location as a prime spot to score some extra time on the 3D printers for academic projects, Stevenson urges members—new and old—to embrace creativity beyond the classroom.
Stevenson has a second, larger event in the works, with hopes of expanding the attendee list to 15-20 individuals. The event is slated to cover more intensive machinery, such as 3D printers and brand new laser cutters. Keep an eye on the Women’s MakerSpace Workshops in Spring 2023.
Stevens undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty and staff, are all eligible to become Makerspace members and can gain DuckCard swipe access to the automated toolboxes following the successful completion of a 20-question safety quiz.
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