Written by: S. Gamineedi Spark TEK Specialist UNT Graduate Data Science
My name is Sai Dheeraj Gamineedi. I am pursuing a Master’s in Data Science here at UNT. I had started working with the Spark in August 2021 where there is a lot to learn about. I mostly like to make my own 3D printing models and circuits. I had an interest in working with soldering with different electrical components like resistors, capacitors, Ic’s (integrated circuits) inductors of all kinds like normal and SMD components. In my undergrad, I had designed and implemented my project by myself using soldering with SMD components. The Spark has a positive atmosphere, and I have made a lot of friends while working there.
While I was in India, I used to play badminton every day it’s more like a hobby. My father encouraged me to do whatever I want in my life, and I love cooking authentic Indian food like Biryani, Gulab jamun, Laddu and some other chicken and vegetarian dishes.
You can learn new technology by using the Spark Makerspace. There is a lot of people who have specific talents in their own way that can help you make new things, help you in your innovative projects, and teach you a lot more about the space. The staff here are very friendly and resourceful that you can come any time 24/7. We are open all day. We are looking forward to meeting you all in the Spark Makerspace.
Written by: S. Gavini Spark TEK Specialist UNT Graduate Computer Engineering
Hello there! My name is Sai Ashrith Gavini, and I am pursuing my master’s in Computer Engineering and did my bachelor’s in Electronics and Communication Engineering. Although it’s been a month in the Spark, I was welcomed by all the staff, and it has been a joy working here. Working with all the equipment at the Spark, especially helping the people, and resolving their queries is what I am passionate about and love to work towards that.
When I was an undergrad, I use to see my seniors working on c language and I was curious why they were spending more time on this language. Later, when I joined their group, I was exposed to coding. I never thought coding will become my passion. After that day, my perception has changed. With that skill, I realized that extracurricular are also important, so I involved myself in event management stuff where I was exposed to different people and laid foundations for many events during my undergrad. This job role has made me realized what I am good at. With this, I can manage both my technical skills and event management skills. Because of my seniors, I was able to develop the skills I have today. When I have free time, I refer to medium articles, refer to my professor’s research work, refer to new technologies and solve coding problems on various platforms.
The first code I have written and the first Pictionary event that I have conducted. Those two events are nothing, but the best milestones in my life.
Outside of school, I used to attend the networking events hosted by many companies and work as an assistant under my professor. Finally, these skills and hobbies made me crack my job interview and started working in Cognizant Technology Solutions. There, I got exposure to many senior colleagues, and I used to feel overwhelmed by listening to their journeys in the corporate files. I also enjoy cooking. I used to experiment with different dishes and add different species to different food varieties.
I am passionate about helping people and resolving their queries, and I hope to spread my knowledge to my classmates and make them aware of the Spark makerspace and the facilities available in the makerspace. I want my classmates to join the maker movement and challenge themselves to learn something new and be an inspiration to others. With this initiative, we can educate many people, and help students to utilize the makerspace’s potential to an extent. The Spark is a great resource for students at UNT, and it will be more resourceful when students use that technology to develop their skills, and at the end of the day, they will
be satisfied with the work that they have done, and it will be kind of encouraging for us to set the goals higher. So, I highly encourage students to utilize the resource efficiently and never feel satisfied with the knowledge that they got, keep exploring more until you get satisfied.
Written by: H. Gopisetti TEK Specialist UNT Graduate Business Analytics
Hello everyone, my name is Hemanth Kumar Gopisetti, and I am a Graduate student at UNT majoring in MS in Business Analytics.
Although I have been working at the Spark since Aug 2021, I still feel like every day is my first day because of the learning opportunities, and it has been a joy being here.
Working here at the Spark with all the equipment, especially 3D printing is something I am passionate about.
When I was young, I would love to play with 3D models of cars and superheroes.
When I have free time, I tried to make replicas using some clay, POP materials, and I would enjoy making them.
I am passionate about making them and I enjoy while making them, and I would like to learn and make more models by using 3D printing.
The Spark is a great resource for students at UNT who are interested in learning and developing a new skill. So, I highly encourage UNT students and faculty to utilize this space.
Written by: A. Vargas Spark Specialist UNT Senior Mechanical and Energy Engineering
Hi, my name is Alex. I am a senior at The University of North Texas majoring in Mechanical and Energy Engineering and minoring in Math. Even though I have just recently started working at the Spark, I feel welcomed by all the staff, and it has been a joy being here. Working with all the equipment at the Spark is something I look forward to every day because of our wide collection.
Besides studying for classes and working, I am also in an engineering organization called the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. My organization has helped me get ready for interviews, edit my resume, and talk to different engineering companies. Besides that, I also help tutor others in math or mentor them to help them grow professionally. In addition, we also play a variety of sports. I play soccer, tennis, softball, but my favorite sport of all is volleyball.
Outside of school, I like to go play games with my roommate, Mike, and hang out on our balcony. Our conversations focus from philosophical discussions to talking about the wonders of space to the biology of humans to the infinite possibilities ahead of us. If I’m not hanging out with him, I go out to explore the outdoors by hiking or going kayaking.
I’m glad I came to work here at the Spark, having a job on campus and with some great coworkers. I have also learned a lot of new things since working here has exposed me to different types of knowledge. Like sewing, embroidery, Cricut, CNC, laser cutting, blender, and even building a couple of robots just to name a couple of things. Lastly, one of my current projects is building and programming a robot. The purpose of this project is to make it functional. Eventually, once the robot is in full function, it will then be used to teach high schoolers how to build and program their own robot to do various things.
Written by: C. Cook Spark Specialist UNT MS in Biomedical Engineering and MS in Business Administration
Hello, my name is Chandler Cook and I have attended UNT for 4 years. I got my undergrad degree in Biomedical Engineering and minored in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics. I’m currently a graduate student, getting a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering and a Master’s in Business Administration.
I am a new employee at The Spark and love working with 3D printers and the Cricut machines. I am most passionate about working with 3D printers because I want to open my own Biomedical Engineering company that would utilize 3D printers for developing prosthetics, medical devices, and implants. Currently, I am acquiring experience with various Biomedical Engineering aspects that will benefit my company.
Furthermore, I have multiple creations utilizing the Cricut machine and 3D printers.
The cricut images show a T-shirt and a birthday card I created for my boyfriend. I also created the lithophane for my boyfriend. Lastly, the 3D printed active prosthetic was developed for my senior design project.
In my free time, I like hanging out with friends, watching movies and TV, sleeping, and video games. Also, I like online shopping and creating colorful detailed notes. In conclusion, I enjoy creating, making, and innovating different things.
Written by: G. Okorie Spark TEK Specialist UNT Graduate Data Analytics
Hello Everyone,
My name is Gold Okorie, and I’m a graduate student majoring in Data Analytics with the hopes of becoming a Data Analyst in a multi-national company.
I love working at the Spark because I get to work with different people from diverse backgrounds. The makerspace has given me the opportunity to learn about different technologies and the use of these technologies creatively in a non-traditional setting. I personally love working with the Cricut machine because I love the idea of creating a wide variety of crafts such as designs on a shirt, make a personal greeting card or stickers, and so much more.
Outside of working in the makerspace, I love to bake and binge-watch comedy shows.
The Spark Makerspace is open to the UNT community, and I’m hoping it will be utilized and foster creative thinking within the community.
Written By: S. Flores Spark Specialist UNT Junior Anthropology
My name is Sara Flores. I’m in my junior year of undergrad here at UNT focusing on anthropology with a minor in French. I am a maker at The Spark, and my specialty is sewing and textiles. I am driven not only to create but to teach as well. Helping people unlock their potential with sewing is my favorite part of the job! I was originally taught to sew by my mother at only five years old, and I have been designing costumes and apparel for nearly a decade. I also have an interest in history that I love to combine with my work to create historically inspired and constructed garments.
All the available technology in the makerspace has allowed me to broaden my horizons since joining the maker team. I’ve been able to utilize our large collection of audio and visual gear to explore my interest in filmmaking. So far, I’m enjoying editing videos!
At home, I enjoy working with leather, drawing, painting, and designing anything from clothing to furniture to landscape. One of my favorite places in the world is a good renaissance festival, and I love wearing my historical creations there! I believe creativity is the most valuable asset one can have, and the tools and teachers at The Spark Makerspace are more than capable of helping you discover your creative side and develop your skills to make products you’re proud of.
Written by: S. Pokala Spark TEK Specialist UNT Graduate Information Technology and Decision Sciences
My name is Susmitha, and I’m a Business Analytics graduate student at UNT studying Information Technology and Decision Sciences. Every step of the way, I was inspired to create a novel information processing architecture, and I made sure to devise a novel technique that decreased manual work because that is the essence of engineering.
I am an Electronics and Communications graduate, and one of the projects I built for my course work was an ultrasonic sensor-based application (Arduino) that would activate an alert within the device if an obstruction appeared in front of it, signaling the presence of the obstacle. This initiative was created with the goal of preventing blind people from becoming involved in traffic accidents. The Spark Makerspace has provided me with invaluable opportunities to share my skills with my peers. It’s been a fantastic opportunity for me to acquire new skills and techniques in Arduino and Raspberry Pi 4. I’m still attempting to master all of the new tools accessible in Spark Makerspace, such as LittleBits, project planning, 3D modeling, and printing. Spark’s Makers are quite pleasant to work with and patient in guiding you through the process. I recently 3D built a PubG helmet and am eager to learn about all of the additional tools and equipment that are available. My hobbies include traveling and experiencing various cuisines. I used to travel a lot when I worked in IT, but I haven’t had much chance to visit the United States yet.
The Spark Makerspace is an excellent resource for UNT students who wish to pursue their interests and creativity in both their personal and professional lives. This location is brimming with information and specialists from a variety of fields. Our Spark family always extends a warm welcome to you. Come in and take advantage of our resources to achieve your goals.
Just a little heads up, I recently completed an episode of the MindSpark podcast with Alondra and Steven where we talked about introductions to Electronic music. I’ll include a link to it at the end, but I’ll go ahead and summarize things here for those that can’t go listen to it themselves.
The conversation started with each of our tastes in electronic music and the scope of our experience with it. We decided that it best to give you all an idea of where each of us comes from since this genre of music is so diverse.
Now, Alondra and I don’t have much experience composing music; Steven is the only one out of us three that does. So, Alondra and I had to do a lot of research for this episode, and we gained a bit of an idea of what it’s like to start making this kind of music. That combined with the experience Steven has, we came up with a few notes to remember when starting a path down creating electronic music.
First, don’t overcomplicate things. You don’t need to buy hundreds of dollars of equipment. All you need is a computer with a Digital Audio Workstation (or DAW) and a mouse. Learn the ropes first and develop a style before spending money on this.
Second, listen to plenty of music. Artists need inspiration and the easiest way is to understand the things people have developed. Now, we’re not condoning copyright infringement, but understanding how an artist created a piece is crucial to getting used to creating.
And third, don’t be afraid to get in and start playing around with stuff. Try out everything. One of the most common things we tell people who come to the makerspace is doing is one of the best ways of learning.
I know this doesn’t represent an in-depth guide on how to get started, but there are already so many tutorials on every detail you need. Instead, I wanted to give you an overview of the tips that Alondra, Steven, and I decided on after our research for the topic. Tips that should give you a bit of momentum when you first take steps into this topic.
Written By: A. Pacheco Spark Specialist UNT Junior Media Arts
My name is Aiden Pacheco. I am a Media Arts major, and I will most likely go beyond this major in the future, hopefully in the cinema or VFX area. A majority of my projects now and in the future are centered around the visual department. I love working with cameras and software such as Adobe Suite, Blender, or Cinema 4D. I am also extremely passionate about videography and photography. I am hoping I can have more projects that involve video or photo editing soon. Luckily, I found the makerspace here at UNT. Now, I can brainstorm projects with other makers and make cool stuff. I still have so much to learn, but I am beyond excited to learn from my peers. It is amazing having access to equipment I had never heard of before and being around people who are passionate about creating using said equipment. I feel like now I can properly branch out and grow creatively.
Here recently, I have been most interested in Blender in creating models, texturing, and making virtual scenes. It first began with creating models through TinkerCAD. I created an R2D2 model entirely from scratch, no premade shapes or help.
Learning how to combine and manipulate shapes may sound simple, but it led me to more complex modeling. When I first began using Blender, I was immediately overwhelmed. I was lucky to have been introduced to TinkerCAD and Cinema 4D first and have implemented similar methods of modeling into my Blender projects. I have found that the modeling community is massive, so finding .obj models is not difficult.
I’ve been teaching myself how to texture these models accurately. It was more difficult than I anticipated, so I have been trying to expand my knowledge so I can further this project to the best of my ability. I am glad I have the help of my coworkers. This will hopefully become a virtual tour of our location at Discovery Park, with the help of my peer, Hanna.
The Makerspace here at UNT has become a new home for me. I have never worked at a place where I have felt more comfortable to be myself and to share my ideas. I know I can always depend on my friends here to push me creatively.
