Makespace - very cool & much needed in Cambridge

Last night's Makespace meetup at the Hauser Forum was fun, informative, and highlighted a key gap in Cambridge innovation ecosystem (i.e. where can people in Cambridge who want to make stuff go to meet with similar-minded people, and get their hands on the tools and support they need to make their ideas a reality?) .. and pointed the way to how this gap could filled.

You can read more about the event, view the pictures and see the comments made by attendees at the Makespace meetup site, but for me the event was exciting because:

• It showcased examples of amazing technical ingenuity using tiny budgets (Cambridge University Space Flight - the students who put teddy bears in space)
• It made the link to the importance of prototyping and demonstrators in getting ideas converted into real products (Cambridge Consultants work on technology demonstrators and A1 Technologies 3D printing technologies)
• It reminded us that sometimes very clever people - with excellent technical skills - can still make big mistakes (Sinclair C5)

A big vote of thanks should go to Simon Ford and Jonny Austin for getting this initiative going, and we should all look for ways to help get further activities (such as a FabLab in Cambridge) resourced.