Proposals

Abstract

The 8 Community Center in McMahon Hall is the newest engineering Makerspace on the UW Seattle campus. This facility houses various manufacturing equipment and is available 24/7 to all members of the UW community as part of a collaboration between HFS, DXArts, and the College of Engineering. A total of nine engineering RSOs (Registered Student Organizations) share the workspace, including Washington Superbike, an interdisciplinary student team designing and building an electric motorcycle powered by lithium-ion batteries. This proposal requests a safety cabinet and tool cart to be installed in The 8 for the purpose of lithium-ion battery storage. By providing equipment enabling students to store batteries in the Makerspace, we can improve safety and ease of access for students working on projects at The 8. The equipment will be available not only to the members of Washington Superbike (the authors of this proposal) but also to all other engineering RSOs that work in The 8. Approval of this proposal represents a valuable partnership between RSO teams and will greatly improve the workflow of every team utilizing the Makerspace. Washington Superbike relies on industry sponsorship for much of its equipment and materials, and our access to monetary donations from companies has been limited this year due to the economic impact of the pandemic. As such, the Student Technology Fee is our primary resource for funding this purchase.