I’ve lived in Dallas the majority of my life since I was 3, I got here as soon as I could. I know what Dallas is and what Dallas is about to become. I also know Dallas Makerspace is the undisputed best maker space in the nation, but in a couple years from now if you try telling this to a maker from SF, NYC, or Austin, they’re gonna laugh their asses off and you out of the room if DMS Science were to drop off and could only produce fizzy volcanoes. Wouldn’t it be cooler to tell those makers we make glowing plants, plastic producing bacteria, remote control chickens, and our own fast-charging batteries? Undoubtedly, there’s tons of similarities between building up other spaces and building a Science space so I hope most members will agree with me when I say that work done today for Science is worth 20 times the same work done a year from now. This stems from fundamental lab equipment and novel experiments bringing in scientifically trained makers who in turn will bring in more, better, more awesome equipment and expertise; whereas without this equipment, most scientists will pass by the Science Space on open house night and mumble under their breath (like i did I’m a little sorry to say) “What a joke?” But with this equipment and expertise, DMS can be bang out story after story for The Dallas Morning News with headlines along the lines of “Local Maker Space Produces Premier EMG Technology”, “Local Maker Space Discovers Previously Unknown Differentiation Pathway in Frog Stem Cells”, or “Local High School Maker Wins Texas State Science Fair for Studies in Raman Spectroscopy.”
A big part of this upcoming project sprint that Science will be launching in 3 weeks will be to bring in some remaining equipment and infrastructure needed to get Science off the ground. We’re asking you for help.
Eric, I can tell you as one of sciences most vocal critics. I want science to be successful, I have been through 3-5 complete organizational science shifts since being at DMS.
The items I have noticed for committees to be successful.
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The Chair and the committee must be actively recruiting ( Without a doubt the current leadership is far superior to anything DMS has had in the past.)
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Committees must be constantly be doing events/activities and out-reach in there space. (Again I think this leadership team is better than anything in the past)
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They must have activity within the confines of the area they are occupying on a fairly consistent basis. ( I rarely see anyone actively working on science project within science)
I have also noticed the items that cause committees to fail.
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Not being transparent and allowing inclusion.
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Leadership focusing on personal ambitions and not the group.
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Failing to remove equipment that just is not being used. (Hoarding)
My personal criticism is science is asking for 10K for this Ventilation system. That I am personally unsure of how much utilization it will get, I know for Approx 10K I can get a paint booth installed that I will see utilization day one and solve a constant problem to allow finishing at DMS. This will solve both the powder coating and Spray Paint problems. ( Can you do your work within a paint booth?)
So my challenge is force DMS leadership and show there is enough utilization and growth to justify holding off on a paint booth.
But I would also consider that DMS workshop is not a clean environment if the intent is to make a clean room I think you will find DMS facility is not an adequate place for that type of work. (If you have any doubt of this I would challenge you to change out a few of the AC Filters. )
Again I want Science to succeed but I have to look at the big picture and I am seeing a lot more people in metal and wood that want finishing capability so than people that come to DMS that need a vented hood.
I want to add the classes that you do are great and without a doubt some of the most interesting material. I am personally just looking at space utilization.
Good to know! We will take this into consideration and do our best to utilize and optimize the space given to us.
Robert,
Love the reply and thank you for the compliments.
Success
- Ebony and I happened to speak last night about the need for a recruitment co-chair and running a recruiting campaign focused at undergrad and grad students at UTD and UNT. I fear starting this off too soon before we have something to show them as I mentioned in my post. I hope the recruitment outreach effort we’re going for directed towards the DMS membership in this project sprint is noticed.
- Outreach is highly prioritized in all of our activities. We hope it shows and want to hear suggestions for improvement.
- We get the having activity in our space thing, and more than anyone else we want this too… which is why we’re trying to obtain/make some remaining inexpensive, crucial pieces of lab equipment from this project drive.
Failures
- Agreed. If we’re not being this please let us know.
- Agreed. If we’re doing this, please let us know. I’m constantly worrying I’m forcing a couple of my personal projects on Science. Ask Ebony about it and how I consistently follow up by asking others for ideas and projects. I would not be pushing a couple of projects that have personal overlap if I didn’t know they had broad, wide-ranging applications and interest for DMS members and clearly fell under the spirit of providing for DMS. Please watch the videos I posted on carbon nanomaterials and tell me there aren’t 50 DMS members who would have an interest in such devices.
Paint booth - I appreciate the tool and what it does and would use it myself. I hope we get one here. But is this what you want to be going to bat against organ printing, quantum biology, and transgenic plants… this is work happening today in other maker spaces. If we’re talking about a full-scale walk in paint booth, I can’t see placing the hood in there. If there’s other types of other setups you had in mind, we’re extremely open to hearing them and giving our full effort to make them work.
On the 10K, the email I sent out to my fume hood team following the board’s approval instructed these priorities:
- Make sure this install is done properly and correctly for the safety of our users and compliance with regulations
- Get as much of the $7,775 back to DMS as possible. Science is not to become known for ungratefulness by burning through DMS’s money.
We asked this amount to insure we get the job done properly and by the end of the year but we will be throwing a wide, diligent net for donations and discounts on our big expenditure items. We got the hood for a 1/7 of commercial cost and the biohood for 1/12. We’re exploring options with the landlord for the best, cheapest install. We deeply appreciate this money, the amount it is, and will not take it lightly.
Cleanliness of DMS workshop - we’re very aware the workshop is a dirty, dusty place. We have a proposed solution for establishing a sterile environment within our area and looking to implement it during this project drive under the Bioreactor project.
I truly respect and appreciate your position as leader and how you have to balance priorities of space, cost, and membership interest. It’s no easy position to be in and sometimes I feel our members don’t take this into consideration. I take it as a true showing of impartiality and a commitment to fairness that the board granted this money despite reservations about utility. Regarding the big picture, I’d, with the deepest respect, request that you and other members please seek to understand our vision for the Science Space, for looking down the line, the expertise we can attract, and what a badass Science Space can do for DMS’s membership and reputation. I hope Science has and will always be returning the same respect and consideration to DMS.
- Continue to support Science and fund them as requested
- Reassign the Space used by Science and transfer Funds to purchase a Paint Booth
0 voters
Maybe this was mentioned above and I missed it, what is the current state of installing fume hood?
I see that the board meeting minutes say “Allocate $2500 restricted cash”, I don’t know what that means, what restrictions there are, or what next steps are to finish ventilation.
Yo, please if I hear paint booth one more time. @Tapper we are making progress. The last chairs did the best they could from what they were given. We are working day and night on this and have made significant progress. When we say we are going to do something we will accomplish it.
$2500 is set aside in a separate fund for the install. Science can’t touch it until we show specific quotes from contractors and sellers. Instead of coming back to the board expecting $7775.00 off the bat, they are setting aside a certain amount based off of our progress.
If we did have a paint booth, we’d have to be very specific about what is/is not allowed in there. I worry the space might become contaminated with urethane/isocyanates despite warnings not to use them.
@Tapper Tapper, time we meet and speak respectfully in person. You know my name, you know my face, if I don’t find you first please come find me. I’m usually in Science or Electronics
Really Tapper? Is this being excellent to each other? I can only treat this as a joke since my impression of you in person is much better than what I’m seeing in this post.
Also would just like to point out to everyone there’s been zero progress on a paint booth for the year I’ve been a member and now people are acting like it’s a choice between Science and a paint booth. That’s a false dichotomy people.
There is plenty of under-utilized pallet storage and general table area that could easily fit one of these http://www.spraytech.com/product/portable-table-top-paint-booth-double-wide/
Attacking science committees best efforts is not the answer.
I’m not able to picture where you might be referring to, could you post a picture of this underutilized space?
Point of order here folks. I’m not attacking anyone. Telling the truth is no attack. The issue was raised multiple times at board meetings, clearly its an active matter, and has been discussed at board meetings. I posted a poll so you could express your support one way or the other. Numbers talk. We’re all members here, and its our money being spent. A lot of it.
What do you want? Stop talking and whispering about it, and express yourself. There’s nothing rude or wrong in saying “this is how I feel” - you’re entitled to your voice. Stand on your hind legs. I’ve heard this discussed, more or less exactly the way I wrote it, at least three dozen times in the last two months on the floor.
I put the issue more or less the way I heard it. I have not yet expressed my own opinion on the matter, and I’m not selling you an opinion. If you think investing $10K in facilities now for the Science Committee reflects your wishes, say so. If you think otherwise, then say so.
This is about investment, and what’s best for the Space. Not who your friends with.
Alternatively, you can have no expressed opinion, and just dump it on the Board, and criticize the result later.
I’m usually in the Woodshop during the evenings. Don’t be offended if I work and talk, there’s always lots to do.
When I joined DMS in January of last year, Bio committee - the forerunner to Science - was tucked into the southwest corner of the workshop and I never saw a soul in it. But Monetary Lane was still feeling positively spacious and no one was concerned about the low utilization of that space.
Fast forward to the present where we have more than double the membership and are still in the same facility. Barring some massive windfall, we’re not moving to a larger facility; as such, resource contention is starting to happen. This is natural and inevitable.
I still struggle with answering the question what does Science do? I know there is a collection of tools (vacuum freeze dryer, autoclave, microscopes, the to-be-connected vent hood, the now-delivered bio hood) and some long-running projects (aquaponics) but struggle to describe them beyond that. Almost everything else out in the workshop is fabrication or assembly oriented; Science does this to some extent but the name suggests more exploration without the tangible outcomes of the rest of the workshop.
Ideally, I think Science should be situated more like Electrical - in a more office-like environment away from the various debris and detritus associated with the workshop and also easily isolated from the rest of the building via a door because, hey, things happen when handling chemicals or performing experiments. But we do not have this luxury.
Coincident with this, I’ve thought that DMS may be forced to adopt a more modular layout in the south workshop. Tools or materials storage that absolutely require dedicated work areas will cluster together while those that don’t will live in marshaling areas when not in use. While this would idea relieve some area constraints, it would introduce some peak-vs-average-demand conflicts should different groups need to use space in the expanded general work area. It would also be troublesome for a volunteer organization like DMS where mere cleaning up is a challenge; following a regimented setup/operate/cleanup/teardown process would be even harder.
There are no easy answers to the resource contention problem. For what it’s worth, I think the paint booth question can be addressed - if at all given the lingering regulatory questions - via @themitch22 's suggestion of a reasonably portable/compact open-ended booth that pulls fumes through a filter.
Science does the same thing that every other committee does…provides the tools so people can do whatever project they want to do. Just like laser or wood shop or 3D printing. At least that’s the direction we’re going. I think a lot of the confusion is due to NOT doing that in the past and focusing more on projects rather than tools and infrastructure. We’re now doing both. The types of projects people are interested in drive the tools we choose to procure and vice versa. Just like any other area in the space.
I agree an office like environment could be better but we work with what we have. One of the current projects in planning and about to get underway is to do just that and makes the space more functional for everyone.
You could have your 5x8’ walk in paint booth, Science could take over 3D fab’s room, 3D fab could move to the purple classroom. But everyone is protective over the classrooms, that idea would never work…
[quote=“ChadB, post:20, topic:12107”]
Science does the same thing that every other committee does…provides the tools so people can do whatever project they want to do. Just like laser or wood shop or 3D printing. At least that’s the direction we’re going. I think a lot of the confusion is due to NOT doing that in the past and focusing more on projects rather than tools and infrastructure. We’re now doing both. The types of projects people are interested in drive the tools we choose to procure and vice versa. Just like any other area in the space.[/quote]
I pondered aloud on the subject because of my own lack of clarity also because it’s been asked many many times. Some of it is my problem to solve, some of it may be that cutting materials and generating a pile of shavings is a far more readily-apparent sign of typical workshop activity than a typical Science committee activity.
As an educational non-profit, this should come as little surprise.
I am not sure it is ‘protective’…? Classrooms are where classes are taught. We have three (not including CA room, Wood Shop, and other places in the 'Space where hands on training classes occur).
Isn’t our motto or creedo or whatever “Make, Educate, Inspire”?
Also, to the extend your idea has merit (it might) or general support (it might), why wouldn’t Science just be moved into thePurple classroom?