Category: Uncategorized

  • Get Ready – Cause Here They Come – VTeen Entrepreneurs

    Randolph – Vermont Technical College/Vermont statewide (June 2017) – Action, Meaning, Structure, People; Trash to Treasure; Design Thinking; Pitching… what do they all have in common? Here’s how two dozen Vermont teens will spend a week “24/7” coming up with the next “big idea” at Vermont Technical College’s Randolph Center Campus with the Governor’s Institutes of Vermont (GIV) Entrepreneurship program.  Yes, these teenagers are spending their summer vacation time in residence learning to develop an “entrepreneurial mindset” to use in any career pathway or to create their own business enterprise.  Plus they’ll learn and participate in a mini-activity to create a bio-sand filtration system for clean drinking water with the Vermont Haiti Project to foster their social entrepreneurship knowledge and spirit. (https://www.vermonthaitiproject.org/)

    Beginning Saturday, June 24th– Friday June 30th – they’ll descend upon the Vermont Tech campus to work with a skilled team of experienced entrepreneurial business and education professionals to learn core business skills necessary to starting a business such as:  idea generation, sales/marketing, operations, financials – startup costs, cash flow and income projections, ethics, sustainability, being socially responsible, “pitching” as well as learn just as much about themselves as leaders.  These young enterprising students will get a chance to interact and get some coaching during the Institute from the recent winners of the Launch VT Collegiate and overall Launch VT 2017 Competition (www.launchvt.com), Max Robbins and Peter Silverman who are on the GIV Entrepreneurship week long team.

    The goal of the Institute is to empower and educate these Vermont students entering grades 10-12 about the power of entrepreneurship to transform their lives, communities, and the world.  In this fast-paced, fun collaborative program that starts with idea generation and evaluation, then moves through the business development stages, and finally, culminates in a business “Pitch” presentation six teams of students will “pitch” their business ideas to a team of expert business and faculty professionals in just six minutes each.   Plus one or two of the teams will have the chance to later pitch their idea(s) August 3rd at Vermont Tech during Fresh Tracks Capital Road Pitch “biker” Competition (https://www.freshtrackscap.com/event/road-pitch/)  one of the 10 stops along their 5 day marathon statewide bike ride.

    In addition to their interactive, experiential learning activities during the morning and dinner sessions they’ll hear from and network with outside business professionals, head to Burlington to visit Generator (https://generatorvt.com/) Select Design and BioTec Instruments to further enhance their business/entrepreneurial acumen.

    As the Program Director for the GIV Entrepreneurship Institute and VtSBDC Business Advisor/Student Entrepreneur Specialist, Laurel Butler’s hope is that students will walk away with:

    • The ability to view problems as opportunities they can act on now!
    • An entrepreneurial mindset and an increased confidence as an entrepreneurial leader!
    • How to break down perceived obstacles to starting a venture!
    • Knowledge about who they can connect with for advice – such as the: Vermont Small Business Development Center(VtSBDC)(https://www.vtsbdc.org/)

    Vermont Small Business Development Center, State Director, Linda Rossi: “The skills learned at this Institute will significantly advance the opportunities ahead for these students.  The entrepreneurial activities, experiential learning, and contacts made with some of Vermont’s key economic development leaders will be life changing, and position them well whether they become an employee in someone else’s businesses, or prepare to launch a business of their own.  And, we will be there to support those small business owners of the future run by the students of today”.

    Note: Vermont Technical College offers a Major and a Minor in Entrepreneurship.

    For information about the Governor’s Institutes of Vermont (GIV) programs– visit: https://www.giv.org/

    For specific information about the GIV Entrepreneurship Program contact Laurel Butler, VtSBDC Business Advisor 

    Laurel Butler
    Gender Equity Project Manager
    STEM Outreach & Experiential Education
    VERMONT TECH
    [email protected]  |  vtc.edu

    Business Advisor – Start up & Student Entrepreneur SpecialistVermont Small Business Development Center
    [email protected] | www.vtsbdc.org
    (802) 922-3692

  • ECHO is getting creative around their exhibits!

    ECHO is getting creative around their exhibits!

    Say Hello to Generator’s New Company Member: ECHO

    Jacob Mushlin is leading ECHO’s initiative to create their own exhibits.  We are excited to see which direction they take their access to tools to further other’s experiences of Marine Biology.
    ECHO has a traveling exhibit hall and most of the time what’s on display has been rented.  As ECHO’s educational and interpenetrate capabilities have grown the science and aquatic center is looking to produce more of it’s own exhibits.  This fall we’re designing, fabricating and opening an exhibit called The Innovation Playground.  It’s exciting – I get to build most of the physical elements, from display cases with Generator and Alternator objects, to this carriage for part of a video game designed at Champlain College’s Emergent Media Center. ECHO is, relatively speaking, a small institution. Most science centers and museums have exhibit work shops. We don’t. So Generator is ours. We have a corporate membership and there’s no substitute for it.  I can’t tell you how valuable this wood shop, community, and organization is to what we’re doing at ECHO.
    -Jacob Mushlin

    ECHO is building a sweet show-puppet area fitted with a projector case, a ship’s wheel, a rocking horse, and a case for a digital piano for one of the EMC video games, AND an edgy lamp display! Jacob is already busy working on how to set up an effective display for artistic lamps.  Want to get involved in the recycled lamp competition? Get more info here.

  • Jump into Jewelry this Summer

    Jump into Jewelry this Summer

    Jump into Jewelry this Summer!

    Jewelry Studio Open House, Friday, June 23, 5-8pm at Generator.  Join Instructor Sarah Sprague for an introduction to our fabulous new Jewelry Studio.  She’s hosting an evening of tool and technique demonstrations, and will also answer any questions you have about getting started in the Jewelry Studio.

    SUMMER TRAINING DISCOUNT:  Take our Jewelry Tool Training Class at 50% off this summer. Register now through Aug. 15th and take advantage of this special rate.  No coupon needed, rates are currently discounted.   The class is for Members and Non-members, of all skill levels.

    View all trainings and classes>>

  • Generator gets visitors from Australia!

    Generator gets visitors from Australia!

    Generator gets visitors from Australia!

    Generator had the pleasure of meeting with visitors from Australia, Chris Devenish and Michael Higgins, for a professional learning exchange. Two days were dedicated to talking about Generator and the City’s involvement.

    The City of Burlington has long promoted intercultural understanding and interpersonal connections through exchanges and is excited to continue that spirit with partners from Australia. After visiting Burlington last October as part of a North American trip Chris Devenish and Michael Higgins from the Geeveston Community Centre (GeCo) in Tasmania were so impressed by the work in the City that they applied for and received an International Learning & Development grant. It offers senior staff of not-for-profit organizations the opportunity to spend a period of time overseas visiting like-minded organizations to learn international best practices in their relevant areas of operations and, once back, disseminate the learnings throughout their sectors. They will be spending a week with CEDO and a week with the Intervale Center.

     

     

    GeCo is a ‘Neighbourhood House’ ,similar to a Community Development Corporation in the states, that is part of a network that forms the largest community development infrastructure in Tasmania. Neighbourhood Houses work from a community development framework, which involves processes and ways of working to enable individuals and groups of people to make changes in their community, on issues that affect them. It encourages active participation, consultation and involvement from the broad community in the design, development, delivery and evaluation of projects.

     

    The goal of GeCo on this trip is to learn as much as they can to make a case for a community & economic development office in the Huon Valley. This, along with a more structured approach to local food security is of great importance to them and the time spent in Burlington will be vital to advancing these long term goals for their community. Sharing stories of success and meeting with members of the community who have benefited from your work are critical to helping them make the case when presenting at the conference of Neighbourhood Houses Tasmania, their governing body.

  • Renewables Cookout and Food Festival

    Renewables Cookout and Food Festival

    Renewables Cookout and Food FestivalJuly

    Saturday, July 22nd

    at Generator

    Making your first batch of “sun tea” just might have been your first experience with “renewables powered” food preparation. Harness the power of the sun to speed the extraction of tea flavor molecules, the story went. Whether this produces the best product is debatable; using the sun to prepare and cook food is time-honored genius territory.
    With today’s concerns about black carbon, climate change, and reducing indoor air pollution among other challenges, new technologies and innovations in the “renewables” cooking space are heating up. And we want to see what’d Vermont’s got to add to the mix!
    Join Generator and partners at Burlington Electric and Vermont Gas for our first ever “Renewables Cookout and Food Festival” in July!
    Right now we’re looking for ingenious ways to sustainably power food preparation. Think bicycle-powered mixers to solar cookers, pyrolytic stoves to, well, sun tea! Got an ingenious technology to demonstrate? Please write to [email protected] and let us know.
    And look for an announcement of the date in early June and we get our plans nailed down. In the meantime, check out this great Kickstarter campaign from our friends at SolSource in Boston: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/scotfrank/solsource-sport-cook-anywhere-under-the-sun
  • Members Are Building A Parabolic Solar Cooker!

    Members Are Building A Parabolic Solar Cooker!

    Parabolic Solar Cooker Build

    Every Saturday starting 5/20

    4 PM at Generator

    Generator members have voted and are joining forces to make future cookouts more exciting.  You can find their completed Parabolic Solar Cooker being demonstrated at the alternative energy cookout in July.

    It’s perfect for my utilisation : it makes one liter of water boil in 15-20 minutes and cooks a meal for 3 people in something like 45-60 minutes on good days

    The parabola is approximately 1.5 m wide and 50 cm deep. The larger the aperture size, the more powerful it becomes. It’s quite stiff as it is with the bamboo ring, but if you want to make it bigger, you’ll need to find some other ways to stiffen it.

    -Yasintoda from instructables

    See full instrucables>>

  • Robo-Raptor Beat More Than 1/2 of Robots!

    Robo-Raptor Beat More Than 1/2 of Robots!

    Congratulate the Robo-Raptor Team for Their Successes!

    Thank you Christine Divver Braun and Kevin Braun for your intention, creativity, positive energy and investment in these young men and all that you do!

    -Misty Williams

    Robo- Raptor made it home!

    For a couple of years, a small and highly charged team of inventor-hacker-maker guys led by teacher duo Christine Braun and Kevin Braun have met at Burlington’s Generator makerspace to build their FIRST (FTC) robot.

    And their efforts have paid off! Team RoboRaptors was invited to the spectacular FTC World Championships in Saint Louis, Missouri.Christine and Kevin Braun’s team was chosen to be 1 of 128 teams out of 5000 teams to compete. They beat more than 1/2 of the robots competing and came in 41st!!!! We are proud of this team.

  • Pitch It, Fab It Winner is Lance Macomber!

    Pitch It, Fab It Winner is Lance Macomber!

    Pitch It, Fab It Spring 2017

    The Judges Have Chosen!

    There were some great candidates at the 2017 Spring Pitch It, Fab It! It is great to see so many people in our community working diligently on different ways to improve or create products to better our experiences in this world.  lance developed a prototype for a mechanical hand bottle washer that he believes solves many of the limitations of current solutions in the bottle washing market. This product has potential to benefit mothers, brewers – anyone with a high volume of bottles to wash. Good luck, Lance!

  • Stella Mars: April/May 2017 Maker-in-Residence

    Stella Mars: April/May 2017 Maker-in-Residence

    Generator Welcomes Stella Mars

    April/May Maker-in-Residence
    In the upcoming months, you will be able to spot Stella Mars laser cutting, grinding in the metal shop, or tinkering in the electronics lab of Generator. Stella is on a mission to make an inflatable dome structure that will be used as a “Disco Deployment Unit”; a multimedia art event that will debut at the Everson Museum in Syracuse in June, 2017. We are excited to see which direction her work takes during her Residency!

    Learn more about how to become a Maker-in-Residence>>
  • Bomb Squad Visits Generator (in the best of ways)

    Bomb Squad Visits Generator (in the best of ways)

    Bomb Squad Visits Generator (in the best of ways)

    Robots, robots, and drones!… Generator members can’t get enough of them.  Burlington’s Bomb Squad gave Generator a visit on Thursday, April 13th. Generator is full of innovative multi-talented members thirsty for knowledge. Thanks, Bomb Squad, for sharing with us your knowledge in robotics and drones!

    Bomb disposal robots have been used to safely disable explosive ordinance for over 40 years, where they have been deployed hundreds, if not thousands, of times. However, the term “bomb disposal robot” is something of a misnomer, as they are not technically robots.

    According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a robot is “a machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically”. Bomb disposal robots cannot perform contextual decision-making or operate by themselves. Instead, bomb disposal robots are more accurately defined as drones, much like unmanned vehicles, as they are remotely controlled by a human operator from afar.

    Full BBC Article>>