The third annual World Maker Faire kicked off Saturday morning at the New York Hall of Science (NySci). Billed as “The Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth,” World Maker Faire brings together hobbyists and engineers, teachers and students, hackers and scientists for two days of demonstrations and workshops, exhibits and performances, collaboration and celebration of all things making and doing.

Presented by MAKE Magazine and O’Reilly Media, the Maker Faire is far from the typical science fair!

Whether they’re educating the next generation of creative innovators or fabricating the next industrial revolution, makers are making an impact on the way the world learns, works, and plays.

Among the many thousands of folks and families in attendance, members of Pittsburgh’s Kids+Creativity network are on the ground, taking in the sites, meeting fellow makers, sharing stories and tips, and trying our hand at some of the contraptions on display.
Stay tuned for Spark reports from World Maker Faire throughout the weekend!

Saturday, September 29

Clouds and the occasional misting couldn’t keep the crowds away as makers of all ages and the make-curious gathered to learn, share, create, and celebrate hands-on creativity and Do-It-Yourself design.

In the Young Makers section, kids and adults alike tried their hand at constructing and deconstructing structures large and small, and programming and reverse engineering gadgets simple and complex.

Here, people put their math skills to the test, computing the trajectory of a basketball-shooting robot and looking for nothing but net.

In the Education Cafe, students, educators, and parents shared stories and strategies for integrating Making into the ways children learn both in and out of schools.

A group of parents shared lessons they learned from starting the Larchmont Young Makers community. Growing from informal basement hang-outs to a community-wide supplemental education and creativity program that’s bursting at the seams.

Stopped by Deren Guler’s table to see the results of her FLOAT Beijing project, using kites equipped with air quality sensors to give city dwellers the ability to collect data and actively monitor the environmental health of their community.

Deren’s project was one of many examples of how people can apply the DIY maker ethos to meet very real challenges with curiosity, ingenuity, and creativity. Checkout some of the other Sustainability Projects at Maker Faire.

If it wasn’t obvious already, this maker movement thing is for real! Stay tuned for more on Sunday.

Sunday, September 30

Sunday started the day off with a late breakfast, chez Pancakebot, a Lego Mindstorms hack that does everything but the flipping!

Also inside of NySci, more than 100 makers are demo’ing their latest inventions that remixed the familiar to bridge the gap between the present and the future.

And the USB Typewriter took the next logical step for touch-screen tablets like the iPad…connect them with antique typewriter keyboards, of course!

We spoke with one family this morning who came in for the day and couldn’t believe how one festival could captivate a toddler, a 6 year old, and mom and dad too!

Earlier this afternoon, we stopped by the make-shift race track where HackPgh battled it out with other DIY shops from across the country in the Power Racing Series. Challenged to produce a working electric vehicles for just $500, race teams were pitted against one another in this high stakes, high speed, and high efficiency showdown!