It only takes a few laps around downtown Durham to notice the city’s local-first culture. Its once-empty tobacco facilities upcycled into mixed use complexes and tech hubs evoke the same energy coming out of the city decades ago when it was a hub for manufacturing as well as successful black-owned businesses. A...
Read MoreDrone claws for disaster relief, bird feeders that photograph and tweet images of birds and a smart tracking device for wandering kids took home top honors earlier this month at the first Triangle-area Maker Startup Weekend. And all three projects will continue on in the weeks and months to follow. Organizers of the event consider it a success—140 people participated and few were repeat Startup Weekend attendees. There were 13-year-old kids and 65-year-old adults all learning about 3-D printing and design thinking. They roamed the streets of downtown Raleigh interviewing people and demoing prototypes for products they dreamt up...
Read MoreThree men planning the first-ever Triangle Maker Startup Weekend were wandering around N.C. State’s campus one recent night when they stumbled on an event at the college’s Crafts Center. A Gathering of Makers, it was called. A metalsmith, potter, woodworker and crafter headlined the night, but when the Startup Weekend guys introduced themselves, their event and the idea of creating prototype objects using 3-D printers in an old shipping container-turned-creative space, the discussion quickly turned into a debate. Can technology-powered prototyping be a creative outlet? Or is it killing craft and creativity? The artists feared the latter; the men...
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