CLC, Baxter partner on new lab
The College of Lake County will celebrate the grand opening of its Baxter Innovation Lab with a ribbon cutting and open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday Oct. 4 at the Grayslake Campus.
Following the 5 p.m. ribbon cutting, visitors will be able to tour the lab and its equipment in operation, see a sample of projects made in the lab and ask questions of staff. Information about memberships, volunteer opportunities and corporate partnerships also will be available.
Funded by Baxter International, Inc., the Baxter Innovation Lab is a nonprofit instructional makerspace/fab lab and the first public lab of its kind in Lake County. Located in Rooms T120/121 on the campus' north side, the facility serves area residents, entrepreneurs and business representatives in addition to CLC students and faculty. The lab provides the space and equipment for individuals or groups to design and fabricate prototypes, as well as proofs of concept, with a variety of software, toolsPhoto of Baxter Innovation Lab and equipment. "The primary goal of the lab is to help users learn and develop practical design skills through hands-on fabrication, testing and collaboration with others," said Rob Twardock, CLC engineering professor and coordinator of the project. He worked with the CLC Foundation in helping secure the $175,000 funding for the project.
"We are absolutely thrilled to see the Baxter Innovation Lab come to fruition," Twardock said. "It is a great resource for our students of engineering, computer-assisted design and other programs. Students love it, and they enjoy seeing their designs come to life. The lab also will help Illinois remain competitive in a global economy, by offering space in which students and community members can develop their ideas for the next life-changing products."
The lab has equipment primarily for 2D and 3-D CAD design and digital fabrication, including 3-D printers, laser cutters, CNC mills and routers, vinyl print/cut machines and more. In addition, equipment is available for woodworking, metalworking, electronics and programming.
The Baxter Innovation Lab is part of the United States Fab Lab Network, which is associated with the Fab Foundation and the Center for Bits and Atoms at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since the USFLN's founding in 2009, about 1,000 fab labs have opened around the world, including 85 in the U.S. The network is an open, creative community of artists, scientists, engineers, educators, students, amateurs and professionals, from youth to seniors.