MAKERS

MAKERS aims to improve belonging for diverse engineering students at UWE Bristol, through developing connections with local Maker and Repair communities in the West of England. Through co-development and repair workshops with local groups, students will be brought together in a purposeful and practical environment, enabling student community formation to generate peer support and friendship. 

The Science Communication Unit has received nearly £90,000 funding from the Royal Academy of Engineering's Diversity Impact Programme to run the project.

MAKERS stands for “Making And Knowledge Exchange for Repair & Sustainability” and it further draws on partnerships with organisations like the Bristol Repair Café network and industry STEM Ambassadors to recruit inter-generational community members to provide practical skills and informal mentoring.

MAKERS provides a space for student creativity and skill development by creating a space for students to develop their own projects that align with their multiple identities and interests. The project will develop those skills through informal mentoring, whilst also developing a sense of belonging and growth.

A key aim of the project is to address the lack of diversity in engineering, particularly for women and individuals from minority backgrounds by drawing on the appeal of communal goals and maker projects to engage women and other minority groups in STEM activities.

MAKERS further actively contributes to the University's efforts to address the climate and ecological emergency by reducing waste and extending the lifespan of items.

A new monthly Repair Café will run from October 2023, and community members and students are invited to bring their broken goods to the School of Engineering on UWE Bristol's Frenchay Campus. 

For more information about MAKERS, contact Dr Laura Fogg Rogers (laura.foggrogers@uwe.ac.uk).

Additional information

You can also read about our progress on the MAKERS website or follow the Engineering Our Future blog.