乐播传媒

At CU-Boulder鈥檚 Idea Forge, students imagine the future. Then they build it.

The smell of cherry pie carries a hint of metal and oil. Machines grate, drills whirr. The space, bright, open and airy, has high ceilings, concrete floors and long wooden tables.

It鈥檚 March 13, the eve of Pi Day (3-14) 鈥� hence the pie. Some students eat. Others, masked in safety goggles, attend to hungry grinding machines.聽Eric Fauble聽(MMechEngr鈥�15), a graduate student from Golden, Colo., is building a device that simulates microsurgery, a practice tool for neurosurgeons.

Fauble鈥檚 work exemplifies what this inventor鈥檚 paradise, the Idea Forge, is all about.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a place where students of every major are welcome and can become familiar with technology and build things, interact and learn things accidentally,鈥� says Idea Forge initiator Diane Sieber, an associate dean in the .

CU-Boulder Engineering already had a machine shop and another hands-on lab, but they are reserved for engineering students only. The Idea Forge, located in the remodeled east wing of the old Fleming Law Building, is open to all students who partner with an engineer, fostering cross-disciplinary innovation.

鈥淚 believe strongly in the educational value of tinkering and learning publicly,鈥� says Sieber. 鈥淥ne of our instincts is to hide what we don鈥檛 know, but here students can enjoy not knowing and instead learn from one another and make things from initial concept to prototyping to manufacturing to selling.鈥�

Taylor Scott聽(MechEngr鈥�15), a senior mechanical engineering major from Fort Collins, Colo., has been hard at work. He and partners developed a tool to aid data collection related to cruise ships鈥� fuel consumption. With another team, he devised a way to make solar panels more energy efficient and less expensive, potentially helping developing-world farmers replace diesel-powered irrigation systems with solar-powered systems.

鈥淏y making solar irrigation more affordable, we increase the incomes of farmers and the standard of living in communities,鈥� says Scott.

The Forge came to fruition quickly. Sieber prepared a proposal over winter break in 2013; the space opened nine months later, after extensive remodeling largely sponsored by the College of Engineering.

鈥淚t had been vacant for about five years. There was graffiti on the walls. It was a forgotten place,鈥� says Daria Kotys-Schwartz, a mechanical engineering professor who also directs the Forge. 鈥淏ut if you had vision you also knew it had immense potential if we weren鈥檛 constrained by closed thinking. We walked through and imagined 鈥榳hat if.鈥欌��

The result is a 22,000 square-foot, multi-purpose invention lab with band saws, milling machines, drills, sanders, routers and soldering stations, along with welding and meeting rooms, a classroom, offices and prototyping capabilities.

Alex Kreilein聽(TeleComm鈥�15), a PhD candidate in interdisciplinary telecommunications from Milwaukee, happened upon it almost immediately. Also an entrepreneur who advises clients on mobile app development and information security, Kreilein says he鈥檚 deepened his understanding of project management and human-centered design by mixing with mechanical engineers.

鈥淲ithout Idea Forge, I鈥檇 have to spend hundreds of dollars a month on a co-working space that鈥檇 likely be filled with people who think just like I do,鈥� says Kreilein.

乐播传媒 also benefit from skilled Forge personnel, including a machine shop manager-machinist, instructor and lab engineer. Plans call for a full-time electronics lab engineer and assistant machinist.

Amy DeCastro聽(ApMath鈥�15), an applied math student and self-taught welder from Westport, Mass., oversees the Forge鈥檚 welding shop.

鈥淭he projects seem endless 鈥� from little tiny aluminum turbines to 20-foot-long stainless-steel heating systems,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he first time I saw the welding room I thought I鈥檇 spontaneously combust with joy. I feel really excited every time I come here.

Photography by Patrick Campbell