Five Questions With: Steve Heath

STEVE HEATH is the executive director of FabNewport. / COURTESY TEDXNEWPORT
STEVE HEATH is the executive director of FabNewport. / COURTESY TEDXNEWPORT

Steve Heath has been the executive director of FabNewport since July 2015; With a tagline of “dream, design, make,” FabNewport holds a variety of programs for people of all ages to channel their inner maker and create products. Heath talks with Providence Business News about some of the projects and the second annual Rhode Island Mini Maker Faire: East Bay Edition, which will be held Oct. 15 from noon-5 p.m. at the Florence Gray Center at 1 York St., Newport.

PBN: Tell me how Fab Newport got started and what attracted you to FabNewport’s mission.
Heath:
We launched with a $25,000 grant from the van Beuren Charitable Foundation in January of 2013. We had an interest in providing opportunities for youth to learn how to use powerful machines and materials and participate in the third industrial revolution. We built community and developed partnerships with local schools and community organizations and kept writing grants and developing programs.

The mission attracted me because I believe of all of us are makers, and once we are empowered as makers we are inspired to make meaningful lives in sync with our hearts and minds.

PBN: What kinds of projects are being done in the FabLab?
Heath:
One of our 11-year-old neighborhood children, Marlon, is developing a line of Ikea-inspired Scandinavian furniture. He is laser cutting scale model tables, chairs and couches and will 3D model and print accessories all to go in a “doll” house. Our projects focus on coding, physical computing and fabrication. Fabrication, in addition to 3D, involves laser cutting and engraving, woodworking, sewing and assembling anything the kids can get their hands on ranging from wood scraps to buttons to old springs. Students are coding games all the time and often developing ways to physically interact with the games using Makey Makey boards.

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PBN: Do you hold classes for the community/schools?

Heath: We run 3D Modelling and AP Computer Science programs for high schools students in the lab during school hours four days a week as part of RIDE’s Advanced Course Network. After school programs run five days a week and we run workshops for adults in the evenings. Our Skunk Works summer camps are popular with middle school children. We also run programs off site at partner schools and community sites.

PBN: The mini maker faire is returning Oct. 15 – what can people expect?

Heath: Expect to see people of all ages, from all walks of life, having a good time. The learn to solder table is always popular. The kids love the stomp rockets. It is fun playing with 3D design and printing. We expect to have underwater robots and other electronic stuff to fiddle with. There will be lots of surprises.

PBN: Do you think the maker movement is taking hold in R.I.?
Heath:
No doubt. Making has the potential to transform the Ocean State. People are excited about making, particularly schools. It seems every school in Rhode Island wants a makerspace. We are working on an apprenticeship model to share with all Rhode Islanders which will make it easier for schools and community organizations to embrace making and honor initiative.

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