The Hill City Bike Project

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Event Info

Start with a normal bike, end with an outrageous bike.

Event Start Date: Monday, Jul 10, 2017 | 7:00 am

Vector Space and Blackwater Branding are teaming up for another art-meets-engineering project.

Here's the plan; we give you an old, worn out bike along with scrap parts. Through the course of the week, we'll help you give it a new life as you design, cut, weld, and paint your own strange and unique bike. There will be tall bikes, long bikes, tandem bikes, car wheel bikes, sidecar bikes, low rider bikes, and more.

On day one, you'll draw from a hat to determine the type of bike you'll be creating and which of the eight project sponsors you'll be working with. Your task is to design and build your bike, incorporating the selected style and sponsoring organization into the design.

We'll ride our new bikes at Lynchburg's Get Downtown event on September 9th, showing off these creations to friends, family, and the community.

Schedule

This is a one week camp that will take place from 9 am - 3 pm, from July 10 - 14.

Students will be split into two groups of four. One group will work with Jawansa and Michelline on design from 9-11:30 am, while the other group works with Adam and Elise on function. After lunch, the groups will swap continue working until 3 pm.

Outline

Monday

The morning will begin with structural design, figuring out what type of bike you'll build and how to build it. Then we'll head to the metal shop to start making cuts.

Tuesday

We'll continue making cuts, then start welding. We'll also need to disassemble the bikes for cleanup and art prep. Tuesday will also kick off the artistic design. You know what type of bike you're building, now it's time to think about how you'll make it look nice.

Wednesday

Welding. Lots of welding. When you're not welding, you'll start priming pieces of your bike and making stencils for your custom paint job.

Thursday

It's time to assemble. I hope your sprockets line up and your axles are straight, because it's time to get the chain on and start testing. You'll also need to finish priming and begin painting.

Friday

On the last day we'll focus on testing and repair, because something will go wrong. Then you'll finish painting and take a minute to admire your work before we go for a ride.

Eligibility

This project is for self-motivated students, ages 15-18.

One scholarship is available to those looking for financial assistance. Apply under the Scholarship tab.

Instructors

Jawansa Hall

Jawansa is the owner and creative director at Blackwater Branding. As a kid, Jawansa was swooning his middle school classmates with excellent typography for their notebooks and trapper keepers. From 7th grade on he knew that he had a natural gift for design, he just didn't know where it could one day lead. Jawansa is a fan of laughter and a lover of great mac-n-cheese. He also loves working with like-minded individuals but also enjoy finding common ground with those who hold opposing views.

Elise Spontarelli

Elise loves vectors. She's made an entrepreneurial career rendering lines, arcs, and polygons, and since cofounding Vector Space, the addiction has only gotten worse. You'll often find Elise giving her designs life by vinyl cutting, laser engraving, and silk screening. When she's not enthralled by graphics, you'll find her in the wood shop making toys and home decor.

Elise is also a strong advocate of the maker movement, and Vector Space's fearless leader.

Michelline Hall

Michelline is a photographer and a teacher. She has an eye for design and a passion for sharing her talent and bringing out the artist in every student. She loves to collaborate on ambitious projects, and she has the talent and leadership to make them succeed.

Adam Spontarelli

Adam began his career as a Mechanical Engineer in the Nuclear Industry, modeling the flow of fluid and heat through pipes and debris, around baffles and impellers, across differing liquids, gasses, and solids. If the laws of Thermodynamics seemed to misbehave and joules of energy went missing, Adam helped find them.

After nearly a decade in the field, he left his desk job to pursue his passion for science, engineering, and making by founding Vector Space. Adam has built coffee roasters, drones, thermally conductive LED boards, arcade machines, childrens' bikes, robotic painting pianos, smart thermostats, and everything in between. He's fascinated by the way things works, and the more technical it gets, the better.

The only thing he enjoys as much as making things is teaching others to make things. As the Director of Education, Adam is responsible for crafting educational programming that excites and engages students. He incorporates the compelling work of Makiguchi, Dewey, and Papert into his teaching methods, placing experiential learning at the forefront of his efforts. Adam has led students to build their own quadcopter, launch capsules into space, race RC cars at 60 mph, build giant flip books, custom bicycles, skateboards, autonomous boats, and so much more. His programs have been nationally recognized by the Nation of Makers and shared with the maker education community through Maker Ed. Adam is always coming up with new ideas and looking forward to the next adventure.