Proposals

Abstract

The MILL is a hands-on learning destination open to all UW students. Our mission is to help students find belonging on campus, and we do this by inviting students from all majors and studies to the space, and we take an interdisciplinary approach to learning and working together. We encourage and foster students' pursuits to imagine, discover, innovate and responsibly create together by providing access to prototyping and makerspace equipment at low to no cost. Our goal is to reduce the barrier for access for UW students on campus, and do this by providing low cost optional workshops on our equipment, no cost for entry, and low cost consumables. The problem that we are dealing with is equipment that has aged and is nearing the end of its lifecycle due to high student use in The MILL. The equipment in The MILL is in high demand, especially our popular equipment such as the laser cutters, CNC milling machines, embroidery machine, and vinyl printer. This equipment has been serviced and repaired multiple times, and we are approaching the reality that it is time to replace it to keep up with student demand and need. Most of the operational funding support that we have from HFS and the College of Engineering is enough to support equipment repair, maintenance, consumables and updates, but it is not near enough to cover the total cost of the new equipment that we need.

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