Mt Elliott Makerspace

Mt Elliot Makerspace is designed to be a hybrid of the Kresge Foundation-funded MIT/Sustainable South Bronx Fab Lab and its associated GreenFab STEM education program, as well as The NYC Resistor electronics hackerspace.

It is a shared neighborhood workspace where East Detroit community members gather to “make” solutions that address local challenges.   As a venue for collaborative problem solving and creation, Mt Elliott Makerspace transforms these challenges into learning experiences for participatory research, design, and hands-on fabrication, as well as opportunities for entrepreneurship to drive regional economic growth.

Mt Elliot Makerspace has partnered with the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, the Earthworks urban agriculture program, and the Mt Elliot Business and Community Association.  These partnerships stand on a foundation of shared core values concerning social, economic, and environmental justice as well as the common goal of community empowerment.  All partners are enthusiastic about the unique synergies that will develop given the complementary nature of missions and goals. Mt. Eliot Makerspace and its partners bring an array of resources to the table as participants in the Detroit Food Justice Task Force:

Outreach – long-standing relationships with community members, businesses, schools
Knowledge – awareness of community, assets/challenges
Expertise – urban agriculture, earth science research, entrepreneurship, adult and youth education
Design Collaboration – farmers for product ideation, design, testing
Facilities – gardens, greenhouses, tools, etc. for product ideation, design, testing
Tools for Urban Agriculture – Potential Projects/Products
Water catchment and intelligent irrigation systems,
Electronics – greenhouse climate control, irrigation systems,
Alternative energy generation systems – solar, geothermal, wind, water,   thermoelectric, etc.