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President’s Update

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First of all, I would like to wish everyone a safe and Happy Thanksgiving. For those that are staying local over the long Thanksgiving weekend, I hope you will use the time to work on some of your projects at PaxSpace and show off your Makerspace to your friends and relatives.

PaxSpace had a great turnout at the Open House on November 3rd, It was also our official kickoff for PaxSpace to be an operational Makerspace. We had more than 50 people on the sign in sheet and estimate over 100 people visited the space on that day.

Our Quartermaster Paul Di Biase has been providing the required safety training for our members. Please attend a safety training class if you haven’t already. See the calendar for upcoming classes or contact Paul at Quartermaster@PaxSpace.org to arrange training.

Thank you to all members that helped SMARTCO move to their new location. PaxSpace is looking forward to working with SMARTCO in the coming years to further our common goals for education, technology and the community.

PaxSpace would also like to welcome The Patuxent Partnership as a partner. I would personally like to thank Bonnie Green, Executive Director for the support and guidance she has provided to PaxSpace. The Patuxent Partnership has agreed to accept charitable donations on behalf of PaxSpace until our non-profit status has been accepted by the IRS. This may take 8-10 months and is greatly appreciated. I would also like to welcome Dr. Ed Barrett from The Patuxent Partnership to PaxSpace’s advisory board of directors.

PaxSpace’s 3D printer “Kossel Clear” from Blue Eagle Labs  has finally shipped and will be arriving Wednesday. We will be assembling, testing and dialing it in over the coming weeks, please stop by and lend your support. See the 3D Printing Forum for status and updates.

If you have an interest in QuadCopters, DC Drones is having a group buy and build at PaxSpace in mid December. The deadline to order for the group buy is tomorrow, November 27th at DC Drone Store. There will be experts from DC Drones to help with the assembly and flying of your QuadCopter. See DC Drones Meetup for more information.

PaxSpace will have a table at the College of Southern Maryland Innovation Showcase on December 7th up in La Plata. We plan on showing some member projects, 3D printing and getting the word out about PaxSpace. If you would like to attend and support this effort, Please contact me at President@PaxSpace.org.

Some cool projects have been happening at PaxSpace. The ones I know of include: Non-Newtonian Fluid demonstration device; Capacitance touch circuit boards for cub scouts; A raised keyboard shelf; High speed camera integration (2000 frames per second); Instrumented egg drop emulator; Furniture items. RFID entry system part II. Classroom computers setup. If you are working on a project, please post a small description in the Project Forum.

One member has proposed that PaxSpace should hold a mini Maker faire at PaxSpace so that members can display and demonstrate projects they have created over the years. This is a great idea to show the talent we have at PaxSpace and what we are capable of making. With new tools, equipment and space at PaxSpace we will be able to create bigger and better projects. I propose that the first PaxSpace mini Maker Faire be scheduled for next Friday, December 6th. If this sounds good or bad please post your opinion in the comments of this Blog.

The PaxSpace CNC Router project is gathering steam. We have created a dedicated donation fund for the CNC Router and with PaxSpace funds we should start building in December. We have decided to go with a home built solution so that PaxSpace and its members can gain the most knowledge and experience on CNC concepts, design and operation. Our initial concept is a 2’ x 4’ router constructed primarily of wood, plywood and MDF with good electronics and stepper motors that will facilitate upgrading in the future. It is amazing what even a wood framed CNC router is capable of creating. See this site for examples. If you want to participate in the CNC Router project, monitor the CNC Router Forum for status and updates.

Finally, An assortment of training and classes will be available at PaxSpace in December. The computers for the classroom are nearly ready and will be in place soon. If you have an ideas for a class and would like to share your knowledge please contact us using the Suggestions Forum. If anyone has any talent in the holiday decorating department, the timing is perfect.

Sorry for the long winded post. There is a lot going on at PaxSpace and I want to keep everyone informed. Please do not hesitate to comment and post questions to this post. I am looking forward to reading them and will answer any questions promptly.

Thank you for your time,

Jim Shelton

PaxSpace President

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