i3 Detroit Celebrates Its First Anniversary

i3 Detroit, Metro Detroit’s premiere community hackerspace, will be recognizing its one year anniversary at its Ferndale location with a public celebration and ceremony on April 9th, 2011.

The 8,000 square-foot workshop has provided an ideal location for hosting classes and events for the community. Events held in the last year include introductions to welding, metal-casting, air brush, soldering, painting and even how to make home-brew soda.

The new location has also allowed its members to work on larger-scale projects using more advanced equipment. The space now boasts a growing wood and machine shop, a fabrication lab with access to laser and vinyl cutters, a chemistry lab, a bicycle repair area, an electronics room and a craft room, as well as other areas that encourage collaboration and creativity.

The event will be open to the public and will include tool and project demonstrations. It will be held on Saturday April 9th beginning at 6pm at the i3 Detroit hackerspace. Closely-supervised children are welcome.

Congrats, guys!

2 Responses to i3 Detroit Celebrates Its First Anniversary

Anonymous on April 6th, 2011 at 9:41 pm said:

I live across the state and have made the drive to the space on several occasions. The folks at I3 are awesome. They even let me share their tent space at the inaugural Maker Faire in Detroit last year!

Reply ↓
Anonymous on April 6th, 2011 at 9:45 pm said:

Huh. Not sure where my previous comment went; I tried to make a small edit, and it disappeared entirely. (Mods: If it reappears, please delete. Webfolk: Check the Disqus/Chrome interaction?)

The headline oversimplifies just a bit, but the copy gets it right: We’ve been around since 2009, but started out in Royal Oak. We outgrew that space in short order, and moved to Ferndale a year ago. So, the anniversary we’re celebrating is the upgrade from 1500sqft to 8000sqft.

Looking back, I can’t imagine fitting into the “starter space” now! We’ve got a trailer parked inside right now, which is being rebuilt into a mobile podcasting studio. It would’ve dominated the old space, but now it’s just tucked into a corner. Funny thing is, even with the massive shop and welding areas (which I really do plan to learn more about real soon now), I still spend most of my time in the electronics lab!

So, here’s the kicker: You’re the sort of person who reads comments on the Make blog. You’ll fit right in. But you also know people who’d really dig this stuff, who’ve never even heard of hackerspaces. Come to the party, enjoy some free food, meet the members, check out the space. Yadda yadda. But, bring a friend who’s new to the whole idea? That’s where the magic happens, and you’re the only one who can do it.

Oh, and there might be a bit of an announcement at the party. Not sure I should spill the details, but it’s the size of a small car, twice as heavy, and reads G-code…

Reply ↓