MakeIT Together Festival 2024!

 

From 16 – 17 November 2024, 11am – 7pm daily, at One Punggol, join us in a diverse lineup of activities, where you can engage with partner and vendor booths, enjoy hands-on programmes, and dive into the action at our robotics arena or open house in MakeIT’s makerspace. Showcases and interactive installations, such as giant cardboard sculptures and custom 3D printed items, will highlight creative tech applications, as you hear firsthand from innovative creators as they share their stories. 

There’s something for everyone, whether you're a tech enthusiast, hobbyist, or just curious. Whether you're looking to learn, create, or simply discover new ideas, the MakeIT Together Festival is a great opportunity to see how technology is driving innovation in everyday life.

 

Get started in making and creating with technology in our curated collection of programmes. From talks and workshops on many topics, there’s something for everyone this October – November.

Click HERE to secure your slot now! 

 

 

 

Featured Programmes

 

Create Social Media Videos Using Just Your Mobile Phone | My Digital Life

Discover your creative talent from your mobile device and extend your digital reach!

Date: Sat, 16 Nov 2024, 4.30pm – 5.30pm

Venue: Programme Zone, Punggol Regional Library

REGISTER HERE

 

Design Thinking for Inclusivity - Healthcare Edition | My Digital Life

How do you design products or services for patients, clinicians, and caregivers?

Date: Sun, 17 Nov 2024, 11am – 12pm

Venue: Meeting Room (Level 3), Punggol Regional Library

REGISTER HERE

 

Mobile Music Making | My Digital Life

Want to learn to produce, record and mix music using the electronic devices you already have in your home?

Date: Sun, 17 Nov 2024, 11am – 12pm

Venue: Programme Zone, Punggol Regional Library

REGISTER HERE

 

RAG: How AI Tools Stay Current with the Latest Information

Find out about Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) and how to build your own RAG app with AWS Partyrock.

Date: Sun, 17 Nov 2024, 12.30pm – 1pm

Venue: Programme Zone, Punggol Regional Library

REGISTER HERE

 

How to Build & Deploy a Simple Gen AI Web App using Claude and Streamlit

Learn to easily build and deploy your own Gen AI web apps!

Date: Sun, 17 Nov 2024, 1.30pm – 2pm

Venue: Programme Zone, Punggol Regional Library

REGISTER HERE 

 

The Art in 3D Modelling of Singapore's Part Architectural Icons

Explore how a MakeIT user with a passion for the past recreates Singapore's past landmarks.

Date: Sun, 17 Nov 2024, 2.30pm – 3.30pm

Venue: Programme Zone, Punggol Regional Library

REGISTER HERE

 

 

 

Ctrl+Alt+Succeed: 3 Essential Soft Skills for Makers!

 

Creators, inventors, engineers: They push the boundaries of our world, conjuring up things from imagination. Whether by 3D printing a mini model of the next great invention, coding an AI that improves lives, or building a larger-than-life exhibit that leaves viewers awestruck, these everyday individuals harness the transformative power of modern technology, seizing opportunities to innovate and create solutions that truly change lives and make a lasting impact. However, it’s not just about technical skills – soft skills are crucial to approach problems effectively, design things that matter, and help you continue to grow as a maker.

Anyone can create with tech, and you can too! To kickstart your journey in creation, here are 3 essential soft skills that you can cultivate.

 

1. Problem-solving and Creative Thinking

 

Albert Einstein famously said: "Imagination is more important than knowledge." No invention happens with recipes and rote – It’s about thinking outside the box and finding new solutions to problems. 

One method to think creatively and solve problems in novel ways is to apply lateral thinking. Lateral thinking is about looking at problems from unexpected angles to find creative solutions. Dr. Edward de Bono, known for coining the term lateral thinking, suggested some strategies (de Bono, 2010).

 

 

 

 

 

Lateral Thinking: How to workshop innovative ideas | Dan Seewald | Big Think

 

Find out how we can get out of the cycle of patterns and assumptions to create new, creative ideas. 

 

Estimated duration: 7 mins

 

Thinkertoys | Michael Michalko

Think creatively and be the brains behind the next great idea – Open your mind to innovative solutions to problems through this eBook. 

 

 

2. Design Thinking

 

Makers who do not think in a user-centric way create frustrating products, like ovens that you can’t figure out and doors you stumble into (Norman, 2013). It is not just about the technical expertise to build, but to create products that meaningfully addresses users’ needs. This is the principle of Design Thinking that guides designers when creating products and systems. For instance, Mick Ebeling and his team ran many rounds of consultations with Tempt1, a paralysed graffiti artist, working closely to test and create a prototype of the Eyewriter, a device that can track eye movements and enable Tempt1 to draw again. (Listen to the story and Ebeling’s mission in this audiobook.)

Design thinking is a human-centered, iterative approach to creation. The Nielsen-Norman group suggests that design thinking is a cycle of 5 steps (Gibbons, 2016):

1) Empathise: Find out your users’ needs, wants and the issues they face.
2) Define: Define the problem using your research on users’ needs
3) Ideate: Brainstorm many creative ideas
4) Prototype: Do up low-fidelity, tangible mockups or models of your ideas
5) Test: Test your prototypes and refine them!

The Explainer: What is Design Thinking? | Harvard Business Review

What is Design Thinking all about? Watch a quick 3-minute summary by the Harvard Business Review.

Estimated duration: 3 mins

 

Make Possibilities Happen | Grace Hawthorn

In this title by Stanford d.school, find out how you can turn your creative ideas into reality. 

 

Change by Design | Tim Brown

Tim Brown’s leadership at the innovation consultancy firm, IDEO, is widely credited with popularizing design thinking as an operational philosophy for companies seeking to drive innovation. This seminal book draws on Brown’s expertise in transforming businesses to provide a straightforward account of how individuals and companies can apply design thinking to every level of an organization, service, or product.

Read ‘Change by Design’ here, or listen to the audiobook.

 

The Design of Everyday Things | Don Norman

Have you ever pulled on a door that was meant to be pushed and felt annoyed because you lacked the language to explain how it is the door’s fault? Then this book is for you! Don Norman’s classic book on design provides a toolbox of concepts that will equip any creator or designer with the ability to observe and communicate why some designs are intuitive and others are infuriatingly frustrating. 

Read ‘The Design of Everyday Objects’ here, or listen to the audiobook.

 

Design Thinking: Understanding the Process

Take a quick course on LinkedIn learning taught by experts in design. Gain deeper understanding of the process behind design thinking. (Find out how to login here.) 

Estimated duration: 43 mins

 

 

3. Growth Mindset and Lifelong Learning

 

Failure is an unavoidable part of any creator’s journey. Learning how to adopt a Growth Mindset is crucial to endure the inevitable low points in your journey.

Coined by psychologist Carol Dweck, Fixed and Growth Mindsets are frameworks for understanding individual attitudes towards learning. Individuals with Fixed Mindsets are characterized by the belief that ability is static and there is little that effort can do to alter innate talent. Growth Mindset, in contrast, is driven by the belief that ability can be developed and nurtured through effort. As a creator, it is important to be receptive to feedback, to iterate and grow your creation. Especially in this ever-changing digital economy, it is important to maintain grit and be willing to learn, keeping abreast of opportunities that developments in technology affords.

The power of believing that you can improve | TED Talk

Watch Dweck’s insightful sharing on her research on the growth mindset, and how we can approach problems healthily. 

Estimated duration: 10 mins

 

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success | Carol S. Dweck

Dweck’s original book that popularized the concept of Growth Mindset remains essential reading for those seeking to understand how our beliefs about how ability is gained affects everything from motivation to how we deal with challenges. 

Read ‘Mindset’ here: Mindset - National Library Board Singapore - OverDrive

Or listen to the audiobook: Mindset - National Library Board Singapore - OverDrive

 

Every Tool’s a Hammer | Adam Savage (2019)

Adam Savage is best known as the co-host of the hit TV show, Mythbusters, but he has also been a lifelong creator. Savage’s book distills the many lessons he has learned throughout his career, drawing connections between the maintenance of tools to self-care. Reading about Savage’s uneven journey as a creator, through crushing failures and joyous successes, will inspire any creator to continue forging our own unique paths.

 

MakeIT Together Festival (16 – 17 Nov 2024)

 

Hear firsthand from different creators to see how tech can empower us to create things enrich our lives. Find out more about our upcoming series of programmes and the MakeIT Together Festival HERE. 

 

References:

 

de Bono, E. (2010). Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step. Harper Collins. Read more here: https://nlb.overdrive.com/media/454527

Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House. Read more here: https://nlb.overdrive.com/media/74637

Gibbons, S. (2016, July 31). Design thinking 101. Nielsen Norman Group. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/design-thinking/

Norman, D. A. (2013). The design of everyday things. MIT Press. Read more here: https://nlb.overdrive.com/media/1286553

Not Impossible Labs. Project: The Eyewriter | Not Impossible Labs. (n.d.). https://www.notimpossible.com/projects/tempt-and-the-eye-writer