Making space for innovation

The Navigate Makerspace at Grenfell Campus stimulates innovation by providing anyone and everyone access to a machine shop.

It's a workshop that features everything you need to make a prototype of a product. The space has been used by children and youth, adults and entrepreneurs and has a variety of maker equipment, including 3D printers, laser cutters, CNC (computer numerical control) machines, microprocessors and sensors, soldering irons and sewing machines for working with textiles, wood, metal, electronics and almost any other material you can imagine.

Students and community members using the Navigate Maker Space at Grenfell Campus.

A makerspace is defined as a collaborative, community-based workspace stocked with tools and materials for people to experiment and create new things. Although there are many variations of Makerspaces, the key concepts include collaboration, community and creativity. The Navigate Makerspace, along with the Navigate Business Incubator, was a part of an investment of almost $1.5 million over two years from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and the provincial departments of Tourism Culture, Industry and Innovation and Advanced Education, Skills and Labour.

"Makerspaces and incubators are open and accessible places in which people construct knowledge and interact with new ideas," said Dr. Jeff Keshen, vice-president (Grenfell Campus) Memorial University, at the January 2018 official launch of the Makerspace. "We are grateful to the federal and provincial governments for their investment in this initiative, which will bring awareness and opportunity to potential and existing businesses and promote entrepreneurship and innovation in this area of the province."

Since that official opening, the makerspace has supported numerous collaborative events and activities on and off campus. Regular open access and drop-in hours have been established for Grenfell and community users. The makerspace works with entrepreneurs and the local manufacturing community to support the development and implementation of new tech implementation. Another important audience is youth, particularly girls and Indigenous peoples, providing opportunities for students to collaborate with regional partners and benefit from experiential learning opportunities.

For more information about the Navigate Makerspace, contact Allison Rowe at allisonr@grenfell.mun.ca.