Makerspace

Open to all students at the University of Derby the Makerspace is a student-led workshop based at our Markeaton Street site. There is a large range of tools in the Makerspace that you are able to use. The facility is run by students, for students. Once you have been inducted to use a piece of equipment you will then be able to book and use it for your future projects.

About the Makerspace

The Makerspace is open to any University of Derby student, regardless of what course you study. It can be used for personal projects as well as coursework, so if there's a prototype you've always wanted to make, or you have an idea you would like to bring to life then The Makerspace can help.

What is the Makerspace for?

Students, faculty, alumni, and staff are the driving force behind Derby's vibrant maker culture and community. Time and again it is clear how Makerspaces foster student success by supporting the development of confidence, perseverance, collaboration and innovative and imaginative student projects. For that reason, it is important to foster and strengthen the maker community across campus.

Hands-on education changes the way students learn and transforms the way they think, particularly in today's innovation-driven world. Makerspaces prioritise unrestricted making, stewarded by community members who educate new users in safe making practices.

The Makerspace area with students working on their prototypes
Students working on their prototypes in our Makerspace facility.

Our equipment

Laser cutter

Our 60-watt CO2 laser cutter is the main workhorse in the Makerspace. It can cut through wood, plastic and many other materials. It is the quickest way to manufacture something and it's interesting to watch it working.

3D printers

The Makerspace has multiple 3D printers for fused deposition modelling (FDM) manufacturing and rapid prototyping. Our main FDM printers are Creality Ender3 Pros, but we also have lots of printers that the students have built themselves.

Electronics equipment

Whether you are soldering up a printed circuit board, adding lights to clothing or troubleshooting a faulty device, you can do it in the Makerspace. We have a wide range of electronics equipment including soldering irons, power supplies, multi-meters and oscilloscopes.

CNC equipment

With our small PCB mill you can make your own circuit boards for electronics. Or perhaps you may want to engrave your name onto some metal with the larger milling machine.

We also have a range of hand and power tools that can be used to shape most materials for your projects.

  • A wooden dinosaur model, made using laser cutting in the Makerspace.
  • A wall hanging in the Makerspace with a range of tools that are available for students to use.
  • One of the laser cutters in the Makerspace.
  • A wide angle photograph of the Makerspace facility.
  • A student holding a tablet with an image of a circuit board
  • A student using equipment in the Makerspace for their project
  • Students working on their projects in the Makerspace facility
  • A student looking closely at a 3D printed object created in the Makerspace

Make Impact Consortium

Our members work together to define, and practice, better ways to make an impact through design. The Make Impact Consortium is for universities, companies and public agencies who understand that technological innovation is about people, and who value the importance of joining a like-minded community for mutual learning and benefit.

The Make Impact Consortium regularly hosts innovative design and making challenges to engage its students through community building and social awareness. Student teams design, model and develop computer-aided draughting (CAD) solutions around a theme.

University of Derby students have participated in all of the design challenges so far and finished second place in the 2020 Covid-19 challenge.

The Make Impact Consortium is led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with eight other founding members: Fontys University (The Netherlands), Texas A&M University, University of Derby (UK), University of Michigan, University of Cincinnati, Universidad Francisco Marroquin (Guatemala), Al-Ahliyya Amman University (Jordan) and Applied Sciences University (Jordan).