Category: Uncategorized

  • Generator Success Story: M//E Designs

    Generator Success Story: M//E Designs

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    Meet Matt Flego and Erik Cooper

     

    Matt Flego is Generator’s oldest member.  He joined Generator as a volunteer and helped build the Generator space. Matt and Erik had the first studio at Generator. They established M//E Designs in 2011- producing handcrafted furniture and products as well as providing design services.

     

    Generator created a very fertile environment for networking – connecting M//E to various politicians, the Mayor, local business owners, potential investors, and other like minded businessmen. Their front door facing studio got them several walk-in clients looking for 3D printing, design services, and custom fabrication. M//E stools are currently sold in Vermont and NYC. Room and Board. stools will be sold internationally in the 2017 catalog. One of many big mile markers was their participation in the ECHO Science Center Data Visualization sculpture, which was built at Generator starting in spring 2015 and installed in October 2015. Matt and Erik were featured in Seven Days, WCAX,  Reconciledit promotional video, Generator Meet the Maker, and local news networks on ECHO.

    Thier growing success and contract with Room and Board confirmed their need to expand the company. In June of 2016 they moved out of Generator into the ALTernator: 388 Pine Street, Suite 3-M-1 in Burlington VT.  Matt and Erik have created a private studio to house M//E Designs, Cardboard Teck Instantute, Tim Peters and John Yasaitis- some of Generator’s rapidly expanding businesses.

     

    Matt and Erik are the shepherds of some of Generator’s top talent and have helped foster many “graduate” success stories. Generator is a platform to help good ideas become great businesses.

     

    Learn more at https://www.mattanderikdesign.com and www.strigiformes-design.com

  • Generator Success Stories: Aaron Wisniewski

    Generator Success Stories: Aaron Wisniewski

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    Meet Aaron Wisniewski

    Aaron Wisniewski and Sam Wisniewski are co-founders of Alice and the Magician, a flourishing business distributing edible scents for optimal cocktail experiences. This unique business started as a single product out of Aaron’s apartment- a space which he quickly out grew. Through word of mouth, Aaron got a studio at Generator and was quickly plugged into the Generator network. Generator helped him develop a business plan and become a finalist for the December 2014 Pitch it Fab it. He received $1500 worth of time and materials from IMF. In May of 2015 Aaron was a finalist for Launch VT for the business mentorship. Hard work and perseverance results in rapid momentum! By July of 2015, Aaron had physically outgrown the Generator studio space and was transplanted into 266 Pine St, Burlington VT. Alice and the Magician products are currently being nationally distributed and it is predicted that they will be international by the end of the summer 2016.

    Aaron Wisniewski is one of Generator’s first “graduate” success stories. Generator is a tool to be utilized to help good ideas transition into great business.

    Learn more at https://www.aliceandthemagician.com

  • Just Two Days Left To RSVP for Big Maker

    Just Two Days Left To RSVP for Big Maker

    If you are an art lover and wish there was something to do about the destruction of art that Isis and other regimes have inflicted, then this upcoming Big Maker talk is perfect for you.  RSVP NOW.

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    Event Description

    For the last several years, artist Morehshin Allahyari has been exploring cultural and historic preservation at the intersection of art, technology, history and terrorism. Join Morehshin for an extraordinary evening of ideas as she explores the first in her ongoing project, Material Speculation.

    Material Speculation is a digital fabrication and 3D printing project that inspects Petropolitical and poetic relationships between 3D Printing, Plastic, Oil, Technocapitalism and Jihad. The first series “Material Speculation: ISIS” is an in progress 3D modeling and 3D printing project focused on the reconstruction of selected (original) artifacts (statues from the Roman period city of Hatra and Assyrian artifacts from Nineveh) that were destroyed by ISIS in 2015. “Material Speculation: ISIS” creates a practical and political possibility for artifact archival, while also proposing 3D printing technology as a tool both for resistance and documentation. It intends to use 3D printing as a process for repairing history and memory.

    Morehshin Allahyari is a new media artist, activist, educator, and occasional curator. She was born and raised in Iran and moved to the United States in 2007. Her work extensively deals with the political, social, and cultural contradictions we face every day. She thinks about technology as a philosophical toolset to reflect on objects; a poetic mean to document the personal and collective lives we live and our struggles as humans in the 21st century. Morehshin has been part of numerous exhibitions, festivals, and workshops around the world including Museum of Contemporary Art in Montreal, Pori Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, Museo Ex-Teresa Arte Actual, Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston, Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Miami Art fair, and Material Art fair. She has been an artist in residence at CMU STUDIO for Creative Inquiry (2015), Autodesk Pier9 Workshop in San Francisco (2015), and BANFF Centre (2013), among others.

    Her work has been featured in NYTimes, Huffington Post, Wired, NPR, VICE, Parkett Art Magazine, Rhizome, Hyperallergic, Dazed Digital, Neural Magazine, Global Voices Online, and Al Jazeera among others. Morehshin is the Co-Founder of the Experimental Research Lab at Pier9/Autodesk.

    Learn more about Morehshin’s Material Speculation project at morehshin.com.

    WHEN
    WHERE
    Champlain Room – Center for Communication and Creative Media, Champlain College 163 South Willard Street, Burlington, VT 05402 – View Map

     

  • Brian is leading by example for entrepreneurs!

    Brian is leading by example for entrepreneurs!

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    Take note entrepreneurs! Brian Merrill makes a great example for all of us on taking good steps to up his game by inviting Kai Mayberger, another professional in the flute making world, to critique his work.

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  • Member Activity: Brian Merrill

    Member Activity: Brian Merrill

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    Generator member, Brian Merrill is hard at work again. Check out his laser cut/hand crafted wood flutes! It’s amazing what can be accomplished with a combination of tools from different disciplines. Take a tour at Generator anytime between 11am to 9pm to check out what members are working on.

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  • Want to subscribe to specific email lists?

    Members and non-members alike, check out our contacts page to sign up for specific email lists so that you can better curate exactly what you want to stay updated on at Generator.

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  • Educator’s Summer Opportunity with Lucie

    Educator’s Summer Opportunity with Lucie

    If you are educator looking for a hands on experience this summer creating, making, and learning this summer, check out the 4th annual  Create Make Learn Summer Institute.
    Early bird incentive ends April 15
    Whether you’d like to build your confidence with the tools found in a Maker Space and learn how to integrate them in your classroom  or
    you’d like to figure out more ways to Create Make Learn with Chromebooks or iPads  where we’ll create ebooks, movies, animations, podcast, 3D printers, microprocessors  and more this is institute promises to be a fun filled week that will fill you with ideas to bring back to your school.
    Strands incude
    — Create with Chrome
    ~ Create with iPads
    ~  Steam Powered Learning (beginner)
    ~ Extend your Maker Skills (intermediate)
    If you or your colleagues are thinking of attending Create Make Learn Summer Institute this summer..  please let them know that if they register by April 15 there will be a $100 Bonus Toolkit waiting for them when they arrive on August 1
    The content of the  toolkit depends on what strand they register for
    Here is just a few highlights of some of the fabulous local and global presenters who will be joining us
    Back by popular demand  is Kevin Jarrett  who has a national reputation for transforming spaces and programs to amazing innovative learning spaces
    New this year.. Lisa Yokana – whose reputation for helping educators and schools integrate design thinking in ALL content area
    Check out their introduction to design thinking at IGNITE last week via Google Hangout Out
    and more global and local educators doing amazing things in their classrooms
    including
    Jill Dawson – leading beginning and ADVANCED Paper Circuits and exTextiles
    Leah Joly  –  sharing her tips for using Makey Makey and Scratch in ways that intersects code, design, inventing, and making
    Sarah Sutter from the American School in Japan..
    Check out her recent presentation at FabLearn Asia
    Go to http:www.CreateMakeLearn.org  for more details  or directly to
        ~ options for Create Make Toolkit
        ~ options for Recertification or Graduate Credit
        ~ Bonus Toolkit (Value $100) if registered by April 15

  • FYI Fall 2016 UVM courses: Food Waste & Organics Diversion fr Landfills; Biomass to Biofuels

    FYI Fall 2016 UVM courses: Food Waste & Organics Diversion fr Landfills; Biomass to Biofuels

    Check out two courses at UVM coming up in Fall 2016 that support hands-on projects with community partners and optional internships:

     

    * Get involved with Food Waste/Organics diversion from Landfills – join the course “Universal recycling Law Act 148 Community connections”   see below

    * Get involved with Fossil Fuel Reduction – join the course Biomass to Biofuels – Bioenergy & Byproducts  see below.

     

    FOOD WASTE & DIVERSION OF ORGANICS FROM LANDFILLS:

    Course: UNIVERSAL RECYCLING LAWVT Act 148 Community Connections

    (Fall 2016 CDAE 195 / 295 D, 3 credit, SL, Fridays, Noon to 3:00 pm)

    Check course website: https://go.uvm.edu/7y1rr

     

    The State of Vermont, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts both implemented law/regulations in 2014 to promote food recovery and decrease disposal of food scraps in landfills, and the State of California recently started similar implementation in 2016.   =>     According to estimates, in 2014, 18,600 tons of industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) food scraps and 41,500 tons of residential food scraps was generated only in Vermont, and to support organics processing infrastructure alone $20 million will be needed over the nine years; additional $17 million will be needed for trucks and carts to collect both recyclables and organics. For diversion of organics, energy generation and composting solutions are some of the pathways for efficient management of diverted organics.  =>     Nutrient management area has its own challenges for example, dairy farm manure, which is a source of nutrients runoff affecting health of natural water bodies from excess nitrogen and phosphorus. Additional regulations would require sustainable solutions.

    =>     Are we prepared for taking care of the organic waste we constantly generate responsibly? Join this course to explore the implications, effects of this law through hands-on projects and optional internships with community partners.

     

    This hands on course:

    • EXPLORES the community connection for creation of energy & valued products from recycling of food waste and other organic materials as applications of the new act, such as, addition of food residuals to existing anaerobic digester systems to produce biogas and electricity, capture of nutrients.
    • PROVIDES experiential learning experience and covers community based solutions from Universal Recycling of Organics related science & technology topics, background & literature information besides addressing the environmental, economic, social, and other related topics.
    • DRAWS on the expertise of professionals’ engaged with this topic.
    • SUPPORTS Internships, Service Learning & Networking Opportunities.

    MORE AT: https://go.uvm.edu/7y1rr

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    BIOMASS to BIOFUELS – Bioenergy & Byproducts

    (Fall 2016, ENSC 295, 4 credit, SL, Wednesdays, Noon to 3:00 pm, travel time extra) Check course website: https://go.uvm.edu/7y1rr

    Resilient bioenergy industry can be built on sustainable and diverse sources of energy and you are invited through this course to examine, have hands-on projects with community partners engaged in biomass to biofuels, and learn about all possible bioenergy topics including:

    • SOLID BIOFUELS (wood & grass energy, pelletization),
    • BIOGAS & BIO-ELECTRICITY (the farm-based energy);
    • LIQUID BIOFUELS (seed-based biodiesel; bioethanol; conversion of waste oil to biodiesel; advanced biofuels including algae-biofuel & microbial biofuel);
    • BIOHEAT,
    • BIOMASS CONVERSION TECHNOLOGIES FOR BIOFUEL,
    • BIOFUELS/ENERGY RELATED ENVIRONMENTAL, ECONOMICS, & SOCIAL ISSUES;
    • OTHER wide-range of Biofuels related science & technology topics, background & literature

    => This course is designed to provide experience in all possible Bio-Renewable Energy areas to prepare the participants of diverse backgrounds for jobs in BioEnergy/Biofuels industry, or higher education in the field, and related experiential and entrepreneurial experience in biomass/biofuels areas.

    For more details check course website: https://go.uvm.edu/7y1rr

  • 2016 Tech and Tux Birthday Bash

    2016 Tech and Tux Birthday Bash

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    Holy snakes, what a fun, funky bunch at Generator’s TECH AND TUX Saturday night! Thank you everybody who could help us celebrate TWO!

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  • Ignite a Maker run by Lucie deLaBruere has new teachers!

    Ignite a Maker run by Lucie deLaBruere has new teachers!

    Lucie is a Generator member that uses her studio space to incubate a teacher learning program called Ignite a Maker. We want to introduce you to Kevin Laverty and Eric Hall  who will be the final set of  IGNITE a MAKERs for this school year.  Kevin teaches at Christ the King  and Eric at Mt. Mansfield. Check out what they have been learning and experimenting with through their posting journey on the IGNITE a MAKER Learning journal/blog. Chris Whitaker with be occupying the Generator space too as he helps mentor and look for possible collaboration during the next two months.

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