The makerspace is buzzing with activity this month, as many of our members create beautiful, small batch goods for YOUR holiday shopping! With many local faires and festivals coming up, we've compiled a list of times and places you can shop for maker-made goods from LYH this season.
You might be surprised how much math can be found in a makerspace. Making a table with angled legs and you need to know how long to cut them? Math. Cutting pentagons for a DIY soccer ball of a known circumference and you need to know how long each side should be? Math. Fitting up gears of differing sizes that still mesh without too much contact pressure? That's right, math. Even in our laziest efforts at making something, one still has to marvel at the mathematical complexity that drives those 3D printers with precision and ease. You can try to resist, but you're going to have a hard time producing anything without math, and contrary to popular opinion, the need only amplifies as technology advances.
You may also find it surprising just how much math takes place outside the makerspace, in your own backyard. All those years you spent deriving and applying formulas weren't just an exercise in cruelty, people actually use that knowledge every day. To help reveal and recognize the work these people do, we recruited 14 of the biggest math nerds in Lynchburg to spend 13.1 hours solving as many math problems as they could. Why so long? Because solving difficult math problems takes a certain degree of tenacity, and we know full well that people who have immersed themselves in this discipline have the stamina necessary, and how better to prove it than with a war of attrition against unsolved problems.
So from Friday at 12pm until Saturday at 1:06am, our 14 participants together solved 51 Project Euler problems, with our youngest participant, Dustin, solving problem 100, the hardest of the event. In addition to hosting this endurance event, Vector Space developed original curriculum for K-12 students to get a taste of computational math, we connected with our local schools to work through an example of a difficult math problem, and shared interviews of our participants, your neighbors.
We strived to connect people from various organizations because we know the power this can have for everyone involved. Our problem solvers collectively represented,
BWXT: Jonathan Stephens, Robert Martin
Framatome: Jesse Hyatt
CloudFit: Andrew Castellano
CCRi: Jason Thomas
U.S. Navy: Dawn Thomas
CVCC: Jessica Coco
University of Lynchburg: Mike Coco
Sweet Briar College: Tomori Buchanan
Cornerstone Christian Academy: Dustin Thomas
the former Holy Cross: Liz Lyng
R.S. Payne Elementary: Tracy Proffitt
Vector Space: Adam Spontarelli, Zach Taliaferro
"Tracy and I were on a roll and our next problem included a relatively complex calculation involving a spiral of numbers. My immediate intuition was to develop an algorithm to generate the spiral, then carry out the necessary calculations. Tracy took a completely different approach, looking instead for patterns in the spiral, shortcutting the entire idea of recreating the spiral, and finding the solution in a fraction of the time. One of my favorite things about working with other people is the reminder that there's always a better way."
-Adam Spontarelli
Lynchburg businesses showed their love of math, fueling these big brains with delicious food and coffee from beginning to end. Thanks for the support from Crisp, The Water Dog, MayLynn's Creamery, Mama Crockett's, Golf Park Coffee. And they weren't the only ones, a total of $772 was donated to the cause of promoting math and math outreach.
If you're sad the Mathathon is over, I have good news. We solved problem 19 and I used the code to calculate that there is only 1 first Sunday of the month until the next event. In the meantime, be like Tomori and learn more math.
"I have taken all of the advanced math that SBC offers...I had thought to stop until grad school, but this project makes me want to learn more."
We're hosting Lynchburg's first Mathathon on August 27! This 13.1 hour event - a Math Half Marathon - will bring together our community's math and computer experts to solve as many Project Euler problems as they can. YOU can join the fun!
Event Details
Friday, August 27 at 12 noon until Saturday at 1:06am (13.1 hours, a half math marathon!)
Math and computer science experts will be on-site at Vector Space, but you can tune in online (details below)
We've built some great math curriculum that you can try in the classroom or at home. These exercises are broken down by age group below, and designed to encourage kids and adults to try something new!
Tune in to our live Zoom Webinar on Friday, August 27 at 12:30pm. Your class can follow along while our Director of Education works through a cryptography problem, and then shows how a computer would be used to find the solution. (This content will be upper Elementary and above, but will be fun and upbeat to keep younger students engaged too!)Register now for the Zoom Webinar.
Tune in to our evening Live Stream on Friday, August 27 at 6:00pm. We will have a progress report, interviews with local math and computer professionals, and share the history of the Project Euler challenge. Tune in via YouTube here.
Use our FREE math content with your students! We have put together real world problems to challenge your students while promoting interest in math and computers. Work on these in the classroom or send them home with your students!
When I share stories of our student projects at Vector Space, I almost always find an interested listener. And when that listener sometimes submits their idea for a future project, it often comes with the larger suggestion that an urgent and pragmatic need be filled, that students make 3D printed prosthetic hands or braille readers for the blind or traffic counters for the city. There's nothing particularly wrong with these ideas, in fact we've done our fair share, but as much as they are offered with great intentions, they are also offered in naivete; a lack of understanding about the differences between novices and experts in their capacity to develop solutions to real world problems, and a lack of understanding about what it is that best engages and educates.
It may be that while reflecting on these conversations, I decided that for our next project, students would make and race go-karts. While it may be true that if we had instead focused our efforts on developing a hydrogen fueled car, we may have contributed to the prosperity of millions, but what would it mean for a student without the necessary prior knowledge to participate in such a project? The further from prior experience the task becomes, the less involved the students will be, until at some point they no longer play any meaningful role but serve more like passive viewers, streaming an interesting documentary. In contrast, by making a go-kart, an endeavor that I would readily admit solves no practical problems other than the education of 8 high school students, the students involved were hands on in nearly every aspect. Though they did not design the karts, they were given a budget and chose a design they thought would fit. They provided a bill of materials to their instructors, and over the following weeks, parts started pouring in. Our pile of steel tube gradually whittled away as students interpreted engineering drawings in order to cut parts to the right length and angle, learning the use of different saws for different situations: the horizontal bandsaw for straight cuts, the coldsaw for mitered cuts, the vertical bandsaw for steep or compound angles, and the belt grinder for cleaning up rough edges. The assembly of nearly one hundred different parts into their exact location in three dimensions is no easy task, a lesson these students learned again and again. The inaccuracies of each cut add up during assembly, until what was once a single degree becomes inches of misalignment, and the best way to move forward isn't to demand greater precision, but to use methods of assembly that compensate for such errors. Once parts were temporarily fixed in place, the welding began. It's tempting to think that the short edges of 1-1/4in square tube couldn't possibly amount to very much surface to be welded, but by the power of multiplication, those many edges had students welding for eight weeks, consuming twenty pounds of welding wire in the process. It's not just the fitup that poses challenges. In the process of mounting the engine and seat, students learned that the best approach is far from intuitive. Making an engine race ready isn't just a matter of bolting it in place. A three degree wheel camber and two degree toe in isn't a simple thing to measure.
Even when your first test drive has nuts rattling loose and parts falling to the ground, there's something deeply satisfying about driving your very own creation, something that urges you on when you would otherwise become discouraged by setback. With every test drive came inspiration for improvements and reminders of the disastrous effects of vibration on bolted connections and the importance of torque specifications. Every engine misfire, steering difficulty, broken bolt, and braking deficiency posed a new mystery to be solved, and by the end of twelve weeks immersed in the life of a go-kart maker, these students became suddenly capable of finding solutions. But let that not overshadow the feeling of driving your kart 30 miles per hour over dirt and mud, of racing your friends for the glory of the best lap time, and of rescuing them from deep within the woods where their wheel sheared off on an oak tree. This is how we impact a handful of lives as best we can.
Thanks to instructors Adam Spontarelli, Eddie Nemitz, and Jeremie Carriaga.
Participating in one of our camps or projects is like joining a sports team. Coaches lead small teams through immersive and ambitious projects. The teammates work closely with each other and with their coach as they learn the skills necessary to solve the problems they've been given. Each of our four one-week summer camps for 2021 promises to be a fun, creative adventure. Camps are open to teens ages 14-19. Scholarships, schedules, instructors, COVID protocols, and registration are all available on the Projects page.
This year our Maker Faire Lynchburg planning team put together a series of videos to take viewers behind the scenes with local makers. At a time when we could not gather in person, we wanted to bring you closer than ever to the making process. We conducted more than 20 interviews, shop tours, tutorials, and more to give you a peek at the motivation and momentum that drives local makers. In planning a virtual event we were hard-set against creating content you could find elsewhere online, or redundant stories that have already been told. These are the makers here in our community, and their process is their own. When you eat their food, use their goods, and take their classes you are supporting a local ecosystem of makers right here in your neighborhood. We are excited to introduce new faces and take you behind the scenes of some of your favorite local brands.
Amazement Square
We whole-heartedly recommend that you watch each of our 21 maker videos. But, to make it easier to find what you're most looking for, we broke it down by medium and genre for your viewing pleasure. Until next year, enjoy Maker Faire Lynchburg 2021!
WOOD
Kime Design - Lathe turned wooden rolling pins and bowls Scene3 Designs - Upcycled skateboards transformed into beautiful home goods
METAL
Iron & Earth - Hand forged knives with carved wood handles Laxton Forge - Everything blacksmithing: knives, hooks, decor, and more Chelsea Tinklenberg - Industrial motors and kitchen essentials mix and move in Chelsea's sculptural art Siobhan Byrns - Tin types, cyanotype, and more; photography that mixes modern tech with traditional techniques
PAINT
Nugent Koscielny - Mixed media artist and educator, making frames and filling them with art Christina Davis - Artist and art instructor, painting on a variety of non-traditional canvases
Kime Design
CERAMICS
Ted Batt - A tour of the Academy Center of the Arts May Carter Pottery Studio Kenny Tinklenberg - Ceramic artist, demonstrating hand built and wheel thrown techniques
SCULPTURE
Chelsea Tinklenberg - Industrial motors and kitchen essentials mix and move in Chelsea's sculptural art Gioia Calabretta - New Covenent Schools student with her award-winning 3D printed art piece
TEXTILES
Elegant & Royal Collections - Custom clothing and tailoring by a self-taught sewist Benaiah Clothing - Screen printers running small batch and full production jobs Midsummer Maker - Laser engraved, hand-painted leather wearable art Siobhan Byrns - Tin types, cyanotype, and more; photography that mixes modern tech with traditional techniques
Vector Space - Tour Lynchburg's full service community makerspace for teens and adults Amazement Square - Tour The Hive makerspace, a place of exploration for kids and their adults Heritage High School Makerspace - Tour the space and see what creative ways students are utilizing maker tools
FOR YOUTH
Amazement Square - Tour The Hive makerspace, a place of exploration for kids and their adults Heritage High School Makerspace - Tour the space and see what creative ways students are utilizing maker tools Gioia Calabretta - New Covenent Schools student with her award-winning 3D printed art piece BWXT - Two tutorials for hands-on projects by the Women in Manufacturing group
From February 15 through February 20, bid on items from our makers including art, home goods, fashion accessories, private lessons, and more. Every item is either made here in Central Virginia, or designed to inspire YOU to make something. Our community has put together some truly remarkable work, including several one-of-a-kind items.
How does it work?
The online auction will go live on Monday, February 15 at 6:00am. You can browse with no obligation or registration! When you've found the perfect piece and you're ready to bid, you will be prompted to register and enter payment information. You can bookmark items to come back to, and if you are outbid you will be notified by text or email, whichever you prefer. Bidding ends at 1:00pm on Saturday, February 20th.
To learn more about the items in the auction and our mission at Vector Space, you are invited to join our founders live online February 19 at 7:00pm. We will reflect on our 5 amazing years on 5th Street, highlight some of the auction items and their makers, and send a special thank you to our community partners that have been there for us from the beginning.
You might be surprised how much math can be found in a makerspace. Making a table with angled legs and you need to know how long to cut them? Math. Cutting pentagons for a DIY soccer ball of a known circumference and you need to know how long each side should be? Math. Fitting up gears of differing sizes that still mesh without too much contact pressure? That's right, math. Even in our laziest efforts at making something, one still has to marvel at the mathematical complexity that drives those 3D printers with precision and ease. You can try to resist, but you're going to have a hard time producing anything without math, and contrary to popular opinion, the need only amplifies as technology advances.
We're hosting Lynchburg's first Mathathon on August 27! This 13.1 hour event - a Math Half Marathon - will bring together our community's math and computer experts to solve as many 
Teen Summer Camps: Now Enrolling!
