Description:

I was awarded a $1000 grant to run a class on how to make LED signs from the Morningside Design Fellowship. Through Metropolis, the Makerspace I mentor in, I created and ran a week long class on how to make an LED neon sign. The class covered basic illustrator, CAD/CAM in Fusion360, using a Shopbot router, and soldering. Every student made a test piece out of MDF to see if their router paths were correct and then made a final version out of acrylic. 159 people were interested in the class, but I only had the space, time, and resources to take 10 students. The primary goal was to teach people how to make something nice integrating multiple machines from concept generation to a finished product. The class was focused on taking beginners. Students ranged from first year undergrads to post docs. This class was inspired by Lauren Platt (MIT ‘22) and tested on Amber Bick (MIT ‘22).

Special thanks to Tian Ong, Simon Opsahl, and Amber Bick for their help TAing the class