Written by: D. Da Costa Spark Specialist UNT Senior Mechanical and Energy Engineering

Hello there! My name is Danielle Da Costa and I am a senior at the UNT majoring in Mechanical and Energy Engineering and minoring in Electrical Engineering. Although I have just started working at the Spark, I truly feel welcomed by all the staff and it has been a joy being here. Working with all the equipment at the Spark, especially the textiles, is something I am passionate about.

When I was young, my abuelita (grandma) had a side job as a seamstress, and growing up I would love seeing and wearing her creations. Although she did not teach me how to sew, I picked it up quickly at the age of 13, and through much trial-and-error, I was able to develop the skills I have today. When I have free time, I dedicate it to creating things like this Easter dress I made for my niece and a hammock I made for guinea pigs.

Outside of school, I create my own designs with my 3D printer, sewing machines, and silhouette cameo, with the ultimate goal of having my own fabrication lab after college with a larger variety of machines. I also enjoy metalworking with welders, lathes, and mills. And luckily, in my manufacturing processes lab, I was able to properly fabricate parts given their dimensions.

I am passionate about making, and I hope to inspire others to join the maker movement and challenge themselves to learn something new. The Spark is a great resource for students at UNT who are interested in making or wanting to develop a new skill, so I highly encourage students and faculty to utilize this space.

Hello! My name is Mikey Heins and I am a junior Fine Arts major concentrating in Photography here at UNT. My passions are art and technology, and I love combining the two whenever possible. I have always been interested in tinkering, making, and learning, with fond memories of staying up late as a kid watching the legendary Make Magazine instructional videos on YouTube. I spent many hours in my youth working on projects on my bedroom floor (as indicated by the many stains, dried glue, and burns on that poor carpet), ranging from circuitry, woodworking, and crude robots. I got my first Raspberry Pi (a teeny credit-card sized computer) around 6th grade, opening the doors to the magic of programming! I joined a First Robotics Competition team during my freshman year of high school, which is where I believe I grew and learned the most. For all four years, I worked endlessly with my team to create from scratch, our very own robots to compete in difficult challenges.

Here is an in-progress picture of one of my favorites:

A truly giant RC car, complete with independent wheel suspension. As the programming and electronics captain, it was my job to make sure our robot could follow commands, complete tasks, and speed through the course to victory. My time at the UNT Makerspace has been an absolute joy, constantly being surrounded by state-of-the-art equipment, brilliant thinkers, and genuine curiosity. I am grateful to be a part of this “making” community, and as always I hope others can find a new passion through working and learning with us as well.

Written By: M. Heins

Hey there! My name is JP. I’m a Lead technician at the makerspace and a Bachelor of Arts and Applied Science major here at UNT. Working at the makerspace over the last three years has really been a rewarding experience for me. I have access to several types of creative tools, resources, and equipment that I just can’t find or have access to anywhere else on campus. A lot of my work at the makerspace revolves around 3D printing, CNC routing, 3D modeling, 3D scanning, project planning, and team development. What’s more, is I’m constantly surrounded by creative coworkers and students that are usually working on something I can learn.

Over the past year, I got to work on several projects for the makerspace, and I’ll highlight one of the interesting ones below. This project was to help an MFA candidate create one of the sculptures for her art exhibition at the Union Art Gallery. Her installation combined traditional Chinese ceramic making and digital fabrication processes. I was able to use the vacuum forming machine to create the object. The photo on the left is the vacuum form we created, and the one on the right is her final installation titled Balance of Power, 2019.

I also got to create an infinity mirror for our Magic of Making event. Creating this mirror took a little more time than it should, but it was worth the wait. I mostly used a thin metal rod, scrap wood, spray paint, LEDs, and mirrors. Although it wasn’t finished in time for the event, it makes for a good display piece at the makerspace.

Right now, one of my main projects is hosting the makerspaces’ debut podcast. We’re done with recording our first episode and are now laying down the groundwork for future episodes. In the first episode, I spoke with our manager Judy Hunter on Makerspaces. Our conversation expanded on topics like the maker movement, the importance of makerspaces in our educational system, and how to get kids and young adults interested in their potential to create. Steven did an amazing job with editing and producing, so tune in for more information on the podcast.

The makerspace is a wonderful resource for students looking to create and learn new things or simply come to enjoy the things other people have made. Until next time, this is JP signing off.

Written By: J. Abah

My name is Nishan, a graduate student at UNT, pursuing Interdisciplinary studies in Applied Data Science, Finance, and Economics. I’ve always been passionate about visualizing data into real-world scenarios to make decisions. The world today we are living to tend to follow, making the more accurate decision based on a massive number of data.

Also, I am a graphic designer who is capable of handling various designing software. The Spark Makerspace has given me valuable opportunities to let me share my knowledge with other fellow students. It has been an excellent opportunity for me to explore new experiences and techniques in Adobe graphic designing software. I find myself in a stable position to share my knowledge, including tips and tricks in each graphical software such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. Not only those but also, my skill area in this place includes LittleBits, Project Planning, 3D modeling, and Printing, Lasercutting, Video Editing, Photography, Power Tool training, Soldering, and CNC training. These are exciting and captivating roles for me to perform as a member of the UNT student community.

The Spark Makerspace is a fantastic resource available for the UNT student community who want to follow their passion and creativity in their personal and professional lives. This place is full of resources and experts in different domains and skills. You are always warmly welcomed to our Spark Family. Come and use our resources to be successful in your dreams.

Written By: N. Dangalla

Hey! My name is Patrick Friedman, and I am a Makerspace Specialist at UNT’s The Spark. I am a Junior Computer Science major at the University. Stemming from a young age, I knew that I always wanted to be an engineer. I enjoyed learning about computers and software. I had to learn to problem solve early on as my family constantly installed viruses and malware on the family desktop.

I have always liked creating and building. In school, I looked forward to working with computers and electronics. I have been in a woodshop and metal shop since they piqued my interest. I learned how to weld and use power tools, while others were learning Speech or AP English.

The Spark is a great space to learn and bring our creativity to light. Recently, I have gotten into 3D modeling and rendering, and I have used blender primarily as it is a free, yet powerful software. Many game developers and professionals use it to animate and even create full movies.

Included are some renders of projects I have done. Above is an early and final picture of a low poly well. Low poly is a polygon mesh in 3D computer graphics that has a relatively small number of polygons. Low poly meshes occur in real-time applications like video games. The number of polygons in a mesh is an important factor to optimize performance but can give an undesirable appearance to the resulting graphics. Below is a more high-quality render I have made. It is a lightsaber I created in the same software.

The Spark is available for every UNT student who wants to create or just learn a new skill. I am excited to keep working and gain important skills in engineering so that I can use it in the future both professionally and personally.

Written By: P. Friedman