By Itoya McConnell, student of MINDDRIVE, 2011
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Maker Faire Kansas City Display of 2011 MINDDRIVE Electric Car
Thirteen students and six mentors from the MINDDRIVE summer class displayed the prototype of their new electric car at the Maker Faire on Saturday, June 25 at Kansas City’s Union Station.
Although it was a very hot day it was also a very productive day for the new car and the new class. Most people that stopped to view the car and listen to information about it had no idea about the car that was built last year, so in the process of informing people about this year’s car we gained followers for next years car and any future cars after that.
Of course our car was not the only item present at the Maker Faire. There were lots of other really interesting items on display. There was a couple that made metal jewelry from any scraps they could find.
Bon-Ami Company featured chemical free cleaning supplies, from dish soap to tub cleaners.
A woman had some really neat leather hats made from scratch.
There was a man who made glass art of all different kinds of things from faces to cityscapes.
A whole family of metal jewelry makers used sheet metal to make their jewelry. The designs for the pieces were created by the kids then the dad and son would put them together they had one piece called the Lunar Eclipse that was featured in a fashion show.
A lady that made hand bags, wallets, and shoulder bags from old jeans and quilted cover pieces.
The purpose of the Maker Faire is to showcase people’s creative sides and show that buying things is not always the way to go and to make you think that you can make it instead of buy it. I believe that MINDDRIVE and its sort of futuristic car fits perfectly into this idea of making instead of buying because instead of spending thousands and thousands on a electric car we’re taking a group of students and mentors putting them in a workshop and having them create something from scratch that not everybody outside of a factory would even think of doing.
The overall experience at the maker faire was great, coming across such interesting and really awesome looking things was a good experience for me because it gave me ideas as to something I can do by myself and be as creative as I want with it and have loads of fun doing it, too!
