Making a Difference: Makerspace Mentor Gives Back while Growing Skillset

“The Makerspace totally lured me to the ECenter,” says Nate Daigle ’21, one of the ECenter’s most engaged Makerspace mentors and member of the Makerspace's Board of Operations. As a Mechanical Engineering major in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, he has clocked in over 450 hours in the space. “Mentoring at the Makerspace is my favorite way to engage with my fellow Wildcats,” he remarks. 

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And yet, he almost wasn’t a Wildcat. After being home schooled during his elementary years and graduating high school at the Academy for Science and Design in Nashua, NH (where he developed his passion for 3D printing), Nate had his sights set on a small school for his university experience. Luckily, the Granite Guarantee made UNH a viable option for him. “After finding out that I qualified for free tuition, I decided to check it out,” he explains. “However, it was important to me to have access to a Makerspace.”

Access, he has. As a mentor, Nate has 24-hour access to the ECenter’s Makerspace, housed within UNHInnovation at 21 Madbury Road in downtown Durham, NH. In addition to teaching his fellow students, and the occasional staff member, how to use the equipment, he also has the opportunity to work on his own projects using the Makerspace’s CNC mill, multiple 3D printers, laser cutter/engraver, and more. His access to the Makerspace, a space which is entirely donor-funded by friends of the ECenter and the Patten Family Foundation, has allowed him to independently develop his design and prototyping skills, while giving back to the UNH community in his own way. In addition to mentoring students, he also uses the skills he has honed in the Makerspace to take on bespoke commissions, such as a commemorative beer tap handle to celebrate the launch of UNH’s 1866 beer, brewed in partnership with UNHInnovation, UNH Brewing Science Laboratory, and Tuckerman Brewing Company.

 

While much of his time is spent in the Makerspace, Nate has also engaged with the UNH ECenter’s programs and opportunities, like the i2 PassportTM Program, which offers students the opportunity to reduce their student debt load by participating in events related to ideas and innovation. He has also participated in the Maurice Prize, which encourages students to explore idea development without the fear of failing, focusing instead on what they learn during the process, as well as the Social Venture Innovation Challenge, a competition hosted by the Center for Social Innovation and Enterprise (CSIE).

Says Nate, “the ECenter has opened the doors for me to several collaborative engineering/design opportunities. These experiences allow me to engage in projects where I work with others to put into practice both my analytical and creative skills. I feel better equipped to take the next steps towards pursuing my ideas.”

“The ECenter has so many opportunities for engaging in idea creation and innovation that you are bound to find something to get excited about,” says Nate in closing, while offering his “huge thanks to anyone who has supported the Makerspace!”