The winning teams from our 2022 regional City Series are set to compete again in Make48’s fast-paced invention challenge where they will solve a problem related to Animal Wellness! Contestants will represent their hometown and the host makerspace they competed at. Those cities are; Wichita (KS-GoCreate), Milwaukee (WI-MIAD), Madison (WI-FabLab Stoughton), Indianapolis (IN - Fishers Maker Playground), North Little Rock (AR-Innovation Hub), Beloit (WI-The Lincoln Academy) and Kansas City (KS-The Kansas School for the Blind). Next weekend is the final showdown where they will be competing for $10,000 at the UMKC Innovation Studio, where we’ll find out who is the best of the best. All the action will be filmed as part of Season Six’s finale and will be released on Roku’s This Old House Makers Channel later this fall.
This season we have an incredible list of experts who will be flying in to help the participants bring their ideas to life for T-Mobile. We have Makers, CAD experts, metalworkers, master craftsmen (from YouTube and local makerspaces to iconic brands), many of whom have done this before.
Jimmy DiResta (Diresta) is returning to Make48! Jimmy is one of the most recognizable faces in the maker community and has a YouTube channel with millions of views. He hosted the national competition in 2020 and we’re excited to have him back. He’ll be joined by a slew of tool techs who have done this before. Brandy Aubé (Studio Aubé) will be working the metal for Lincoln Electric. Joel Gordon (MatterHackers) and Luis Rodriguez (Ultimaker) will work alongside Onshape CAD designers Matt Rohr and Ethan Keller. And in the woodshop, ShopBot Tools expert, Chris Burns, will run the equipment and will be joined by Tyler Isaacs (Wooden Whiskers Trading Company), Adam Kitrrell (AR Innovation Hub), Gregg Nowling (1st Maker Space) and Luke and Priscilla from P & L Smithed who will participate in their first Make48 event!
Mark Miller from Gridlock Table will be attending his first event as well. But he’ll be in good hands, working with Royce Altendorf and Dana Tobias from Airgas who’ll show him the ropes. Harley-Davidson’s Eryn Horton is returning to assist the teams with Matthew Anchor.
Local Makers and past tool techs including; Whitney Manney (WHITNEYMANNEY), Stan Fernald (retroDIODE LLC) and Travis Putman (Travis Putman Engineering) will be joining the team with Nick Porter (UMKC Innovation Studios) and volunteers from The University of Missouri-Kansas City. Zaheer Siddique (UMKC SSE Alumni Association) is graphic designer who will help with sales sheets and Ignateus Marten (Oracle) will be helping the teams with their presentations.
This year we have 5 teen tool techs joining the ranks. Miles O’Brien competed in 2021 and returned as a Tool Tech at the Indianapolis-Fishers event last year. Piper Grant, Austin Overton and Avery Rhinerson are students from Stoughton High School FabLab where the trio volunteered at the Madison event. And rounding out these students is Jimmy Lewis-Swain. Jimmy is a visually-impaired student who competed on a team at the KSSB competition. He’s returning as a Tool Tech and will be working closely with Matt Zimmerman and KSSB makerspace leader Lydia Knopp.
After the competition ends, invited guests will gather and watch the teams pitch their ideas to a panel of judges. Kevin O’Connor, host of the iconic PBS show This Old House, will be one of the judges deciding which team takes home the grand prize. Joining him will be Kevin Mako, a longtime supporter and president of Mako Design + Invent, and representatives from T-Mobile.
Things kickoff on Friday morning, March 31st at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The weekend will be uber-packed with action and surprises.
If you’re interested in learning more about this event visit the National competition webpage at https://www.make48.com/nationals-2023-season-6
