Champlain College MakerLab Celebrates Opening on Oct. 3

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Champlain College Emergent Media Center Invites the Public to Attend their MakerLab Open House on Friday, Oct. 3

BURLINGTON, VT (09/29/2014)(readMedia)-- Champlain College will celebrate the grand opening of the College's MakerLab and expanded Emergent Media Center (EMC) on Friday, Oct. 3 from 3:30-6:30 p.m. at Champlain's Miller Center at Lakeside Campus located at 175 Lakeside Ave.

The Champlain MakerLab, a rapid prototyping facility is equipped with state of the art 3D printers, a 3D scanner, laser cutter, vinyl cutter, large format printers, electronics prototyping, Arduinos, sewing tools for wearable computing and more traditional tools. The space and tools allow students and the Champlain extended community to explore the possibilities for invention and entrepreneurship now available thanks to the unique marriage of digital technologies and once impossible to manufacture physical components. The MakerLab is also the first academic institution on the east coast to have a ProJet 4500 - the most sophisticated 3D color printer available.

At the Oct. 3 open house and ribbon cutting, Champlain President Donald Laackman and the Emergent Media Center Director Ann DeMarle, will welcome visitors during an opening ceremony at 4 p.m. Michael Jager, principal of Solidarity of Unbridled Labour (formerly JDK) and Lisa Groeneveld, co-founder of Logic Supply and sponsor of the MakerLab, will also be speaking.

"The MakerLab is an innovative and creative place for any Champlain student, faculty, or staff member to explore the intersections between digital technologies, physical components, and interactivity," explained Sarah Jerger, director of Operations & Communications at the EMC.

The MakerLab is also part of a partnership with the City of Burlington and the Generator, a makerspace in Memorial Auditorium, which offers access to additional classes, tools and studio space. As partners, reciprocal membership between makerspaces is offered.

The expansion of the EMC also gives dedicated studio space for undergraduate and graduate students, 25 computer workstations, new media display and participation technologies, collaborative group work spaces, meeting spaces, graduate fellow offices and additional faculty/staff offices.

"This new MakerLab connects the creative economy of Burlington's South End Art scene and the Vermont business and manufacturing community," explained DeMarle. "We are developing new academic offerings related to these specialized educational technologies. Using software, prototyping equipment and encouraging the long-tradition of entrepreneurial spirit at Champlain College will ensure our students have a direct hand in building the future."

"This space and the students and faculty who will bring it to life, will carry forward Champlain's mission to prepare students to thrive as creators, communicators and innovators. And from day one at Champlain, to think and act as professionals in the media-engaged and interconnected world," she added.

Champlain plans to offer a specialization in Educational Technology, giving students majoring in middle and secondary teacher education the knowledge and background to integrate emerging technology skills and concepts into fresh curricula for young learners.

Learn more about the EMC and MakerLab at www.champlain.edu/emc

Champlain College will also participate in the Oct. 4-5 Mini Maker Faire at Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, Vt. For more details, visit http://www.champlainmakerfaire.com/

CALENDAR LISTING: CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE MAKERLAB OPENING, Friday, Oct. 3, 3:30 to 6:30 p.m., Emergent Media Center, Miller Center at Lakeside, 175 Lakeside Ave., Burlington. Tour the new MakerLab and Emergent Media Center, learn about rapid prototyping equipment, explore interactive digital and physical projects, and make something of your own. Free and open to the public. For more information, 802-383-6650 or champlain.edu/emc

About Champlain College

Since 1878, Champlain College has provided career-focused education to students from its hilltop campus in Burlington, Vt. Champlain's distinctive educational approach embodies the notion that true learning only occurs when information and experience come together to create knowledge. Champlain offers traditional undergraduate and online undergraduate courses, along with online certificate and degree programs and 11 master's degree programs. Champlain offers study abroad programs at its campuses in Montreal, Quebec and Dublin, Ireland. Champlain College is included in the Princeton Review's The Best 379 Colleges: 2015 Edition. Champlain was named a "Top-Up-and-Coming School" by U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges and is ranked in the top tier of 2014 Regional Colleges in the North. For more information, visit www.champlain.edu