image: A 3-D printer at the Louisiana Tech University Thingery whirs and hums in the rapid prototyping lab. view more
Credit: Louisiana Tech University
RUSTON, La - The Innovation Enterprise at Louisiana Tech University is proud to announce its inaugural "Maker Month" - a celebration of all things made and to showcase through exhibitions, competitions and galleries what students, faculty and regional entrepreneurs have created.
Visitors to Maker Month events, which take place April 14 through May 18, will enjoy interacting with the innovators and learning how they create as much as seeing the results of their creations. This packed calendar of events features work from a number of diverse fields including arts, sciences, architecture, engineering and business. Most innovations are interdisciplinary in nature and range from engineered products to business pitches, software and showcases of design and aesthetic sensibility.
"Some of these products will no doubt soon become part of thriving business enterprises in our region", said Dr. Dave Norris, chief innovation officer at Louisiana Tech. "Visitors will be inspired be the work of people actually making real tangible products for artistic or commercial purposes or even just to show that they can do it."
Louisiana Tech and its regional partners are actively engaged in creating unique products and innovations with artistic merit, technical and scientific sophistication, and potential commercial value.
"Maker Month recognizes the shared culture of creativity and making things across our campus and our region", said Kyle Prather, director of The Thingery, Louisiana Tech's maker space. "This type of cross-disciplinary culture helps to support a thriving innovative and creative culture on campus and throughout our region."
The calendar of events will kick-off with the New Frontiers Digital Painting gallery opening on April 14 - a premier exhibition event in north Louisiana featuring leading-edge digital painting technology for medical illustrations. Other Maker Month events include two Engineering Design Expos with over 100 industry sponsors, the Game App Launch and the first-ever Thingery One Day Build.
Maker Month is a product of Louisiana Tech's Innovation Enterprise - a hotbed of ideas, entrepreneurship, creativity and new business opportunities created through collaborations involving students, faculty, and our business partners with unlimited market applications from biomedical to alternative energy, consumer products, and beyond. A vibrant culture of entrepreneurship and innovation at Louisiana Tech and in the surrounding region, the Innovation Enterprise has resulted in a burst of new inventions, startup companies, and business partnerships.
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A complete calendar of events for Maker Month is available at http://www.latechinnovation.org/makermonth. All members of the campus and local community are welcome and encouraged to attend month-long celebration. For more information, please contact Kyle Prather at kprather@latech.edu.