The recent acquisition of Kerala’s own start up, Profoundis by FullContact shows that given the right ambience, some of our engineering graduates are as good or better than anyone else.
As we celebrate our successes in software, let us not forget the need for talent in the hardware side of things. The “Make in India”, initiative will require an abundance of manufacturing talent and India’s nascent maker movement needs to act fast.
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One way of doing that would be to take a close look at creating maker spaces similar to Techshops in the United States. These do-it-yourself (DIY) open access workshops offer individuals access to space, education and tools to learn, build prototypes and manufacture products on their own.
Called “gyms for geeks,” they operate on a membership fee model similar to recreational facilities and clubs. These are akin to FabLabs in Kerala, but more sophisticated in the way they build community, nurture entrepreneurship and engage different groups in partnership roles.
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“We develop hands on ability for any individual wanting to learn a skill. Members can open up to not only innovative ideas but also apply their skills here,” said Jon Barbara, Director of Techshop’s US West Coast Operations.
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This is happening at a time when US manufacturing is on the decline and students in rural and semi-urban areas do not have access to an education that emphasizes hands on skills.
Meanwhile, in India, a factory model of learning emphasizing rote memorization is killing critical thinking skills in students. The solution? Give them space to tinker, play with their hands and try to solve complex challenges.
Techshops are privately owned open access workshops that have been in business for around 10 years fueling the U.S. maker movement that has been in existence for several decades. They have just started expanding globally with workshops in Abu Dhabi, Tokyo and Paris.
A few innovative products that were seeded here include the payment portal, Square, a high end IPad case manufacturer called DODOcase and kayak manufacturer Oru Kayak.
Other well known products include Embrace, a warmer that prevents hypothermia in new born children and this is now being manufactured in India.
Techshops are located mostly in industrial corridors. They need the right demographics and an ecosystem that is entrepreneurial. Launching one in the US costs approximately four million dollars and this includes investing in a ton of equipment for machining, woodwork, and 3D printing among others.
Members can sign up for courses in anything from machining, metal and woodwork and get complete access to different tools.
“We supply the playground where makers can be engaged and excited. We try to build a community of people from whom they can learn from each other,” Barbara said.
Graduates have found work in large manufacturing firms like Honeywell and many have found second careers and launched businesses.
While mostly focusing on hardware, they also offer hacker spaces and teach programing in open source software like Arduino and Raspberry Pi.
At the end of the day, maker spaces are all about building a community of people together who are interested in learning a new skill and in learning from one another.
It’s high time that we shut our low performing engineering colleges and create maker spaces where eager students can tinker and develop new products that can change the world.
For once, let us forget theory, rote memorization and get our hands dirty together to make some great stuff.
(Sarat Pratapchandran is a US-based writer whose career spans content management, philanthropy and corporate social responsibility. A master’s in mass communication from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and Kerala University, he now works as a fund raiser for a major US-based health sciences university)