UBC Engineering Physics has some very ambitious undergraduate students – and some great fabrication tools! Waterjet cutters, laser cutters, CAD software tools, machines for making their own Printed Circuit Boards, spot-welders and powder-coating are just some of the tools available to our undergrads to put their prototyping ideas into reality. Come learn about some of these tools, and see a selection of prototypes, including our autonomous robotic vehicles designed and made by 2nd year students in only 6 weeks.

Vincent van Haaff (flyingoctopus) is a multi-disciplinary media artist working with computer code to explore virtual spaces defined by rule-based systems. Originally from Southern California, he went from a record label co-founder and audio hacker in Los Angeles to a rock climbing/chard-growing hippie in Santa Barbara before moving to Vancouver to become a software developer and media artist. His expertise spans from data and music visualization to computer vision and user centred design.

At this year’s Maker Faire, he will be showcasing “< =>”, which will be an aural exploration of how one can create music using the infinite sum of tools and communities out there in the great wide interwebs.

Arduino < => Ableton Live, monome < => ChucK, Computer Vision < => Quartz Composer, Kinect < => Cinema4D, the possibilities are endless. Let’s play and learn!

Vancouver is honoured to participate in the first Circle of Regional Effigies (CORE) project at Burning Man, an annual event attended by 50,000 from around the world each August. “Playa Time” is Vancouver’s design, a 20′ tall clock tower with a giant hamster wheel in the base. As you run in the wheel, the clock hands move and a cuckoo orca surprises. Made of wood, it will present spectators with an impressive and complete burn down at the event. Come see a scale model, meet project artists and build crew members, and learn about how you can get involved.

Draw By Night is a drawing party that started to engage like-minded creative people from various disciplines, focusing on one central theme. The energy is always high and the result is always unexpected. Participants can collaborate or work individually. Drawings are not kept, but documented and archived on the Draw by Night website. It’s encouraged that people tweet and post photos and work to the facebook page. The interest here is in the process of drawing, as opposed to keeping every little scrap.

Spool of Thread Sewing Lounge is a modern fabric shop. Our retail shop offers all things for making sewing projects including fabric, independent sewing patterns and notions. Spool of Thread is also a great place to learn to sew, through our sewing classes and sewing machines on hand to rent by the hour. We’re bringing the shop to Maker Faire and putting together a DIY station where participants will be able to try their hand at making with a handsewing project.

Tyson digs noise, both audio and visual. Tyson also digs open source. This latest project is the best of both worlds, combining several open source hardware synth kits into a single… thing.

Imagine a 3 foot tall ring, add 64 full color LEDs down one side, spin it at 2000 rpm vertically, Then blink and change color of the LEDs ~120 times every revolution or ~4000 times a second. What you get is a mesmerizing ball of ever changing light. Add a micro-controller in to the mix and create a website that anyone can program this ball of light with there own animations.

Steven started making things at a young age when he found that the things he wanted didn’t exists yet or were out of his financial reach. Starting small, by making kites and toy boats from found materials he soon realized that he like the process of making things more then end result. Years later his home is filled with an assorts of DIY gadgets, toys and gizmos and he couldn’t be happier.

The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild is where non-traditional, fresh, modern quilters come together to share ideas and gain inspiration, while learning new, primarily fabric, thread and sewing related techniques. We support each other’s creative endeavours while engaging our hearts, heads and minds.

Modern quilting, while inspired by the artistry and talent of traditional quilting, challenges the “rules”. At VMQG, quilters of all ages and experience levels are welcome to quilt in styles they relate to and that express their unique creativity.

The Fraser Valley Knitting Guild is a group of enthusiastic knitters, spinners and weavers, committed to the preservation, experimentation and education of knitting. Along with regular meetings and demos we love participating in local events that promote fibrecraft, with special attention to local artists. We believe that anyone has the ability and time to learn to knit, so at our booth we’ll be teaching the basics of knitting to anyone willing to learn!

The International Guild of Knot Tyers (IGKT) is an educational non-profit dedicated to the art, craft and science of knotting by studying, archiving, practicing, and sharing historical techniques as well as developing and investigating new ones. The Pacific Americas Branch is a chapter of the IGKT and brings local focus for knot tyers in the Western U.S., Canada and Alaska.

Since 1966, Craftworks Society has worked to provide meaningful work to Vancouver-area adults who are unable to seek and maintain regular employment due to physical challenges and/or mental illness. Through our program, participants receive volunteer-prepared craft kits which are delivered to their homes. These items are then sold in our society’s shop at 2208 West 4th Avenue in Vancouver, as well as at craft fairs and special events.

Jackie Dives is an enthusiastic supporter of the Vancouver art, music and film scenes. The former owner of Main Street boutique The Petri Dish, she now sells her own art and gift items in shops and art markets in Vancouver. She is an advocate of the DIY lifestyle, preparing most of her meals from scratch, creating gifts and household items from repurposed materials, and supporting local farmers and craftspeople. When she is not being crafty she writes a DIY column for Granville Online, maintains a personal blog, and takes lots of naps with a black cat named Kitten.

Meredith makes one of a kind and limited edition hand crafted furniture. At Vancouver’s Maker Faire selected works will be available for purchase including a hall table from her heirloom collection and a few pieces inspired by Danish Mid Century Modern. Guided by the masters of yesterday, Meredith was taught how to build heirloom quality pieces and make exquisite tools such as wooden planes, and spokeshaves. Tools will be on display and she will share tips on how you can make your own. Please, visit Meredith at www.meredithnicole.com

There’s so much pressure to create things that are GOOD or PRETTY! But sometimes it’s useful or fun or challenging to flip that around and make something UGLY. Bet you’ve never set out to do that before! Mighty Ugly is a project – online and in person – that goes like this: 1) Make an ugly creature. 2) Take photos. 3) Talk about it. It might make you feel great and it might make you feel sick, but I guarantee you’ll be glad you did it. Mighty Ugly is run by author, editor, crafter and speaker Kim Werker. Learn more about the project and share your experiences at www.mightyugly.com.

For Maker Faire, Rachael will be displaying some of her recent altered book artwork made from old books and recycled materials. She will also be demonstrating some of the techniques she uses to make her book art, as well as paper cuts, and exploring making sculpture from the reclaimed cardboard of toilet paper rolls.

Typography inspired curiosities for self and space!

I adore old books and typography, and am on a one woman mission to bring the words and images of old books off of the page and into the every day.

From pottery printed with quirky outdated info to paper pages turned wearable wrist cuffs and even a do-it-yourself kit or two, discover new ways to enjoy the words of generations past.

Shannon Harvey created Monkey100 five years ago as a public art project. With a background in murals and collaborative art practices, she was interested in finding ways to reach a wider audience on issues that were important to her. She loved the idea of every person’s potential to ‘be that 100th monkey’, the tipping point for massive social change. T-shirts seemed a great way to engage people at that level. She now has her own silkscreen studio where she design and print socially meaningful graphics on t-shirts, cards and posters.

Colleen Langford is a self-taught artist exploring the emotional lives of women and girls. With an X-acto or a needle and thread, Colleen reassembles the family unit, the schoolyard, industry, romance and friendship. The stark and detailed; dark and candy-coloured environments are the backdrops for the complexity of her subjects. It is with these tools and processes that Colleen seeks to understand and reframe situations in her own development, as well as that in the lives of those around her.

Queen Bee puts an alternative twist on eco-friendly. Operating as a collective selling independently made products such as vegan body care, accessories using recycled and reusable materials and home décor and art.

The field of eTextiles or soft circuitry involves integrating electronics and smart materials into textile projects, and can cover quite a wide range indeed. Shannon will be showcasing a variety of eTextile projects by Polymath Design Lab and other makers, to introduce more people to the field and give them the opportunity to see and touch the materials first hand. Some projects have free online tutorials, and she will have a few different introductory eTextile kits available to purchase.

Do you love to eat bacon but hate not knowing where it comes from? Allergic to nitrates or just can’t afford to buy it regularly? OpenFile Vancouver editor Karen Pinchin is a journalist by day and a food experimenter by night. In this demonstration, she’ll teach you how to buy your own locally-sourced pork belly, cure it, smoke it and store it for an end result of cheaper, more delicious and better-for-you bacon. It’s really easy. Really.

The Day 4 solar P.V. panels produced a steady 2.3 kW of clean, quiet 120VAC power. Our custom trailer makes for ease of transportation and deployment of the 5 array frames along with the battery storage box, breaker panel, max power point tracker, and inverter. The system looks sleek, is versatile and is aesthetically pleasing when deployed. Rental price is $800 / day up to a max of $2000 / week. The mobile solar array has been deployed successfully at several events. We are currently working with all major outdoor events in Vancouver who need portable power. Please email for more information.

Joshua and Karen have been collaborating for over ten years on stories, props, costumes, electronics, games, films, toys, music, and software. Their projects strive to fuse modern technologies with historical aesthetics. A recent project The Reading Glove, allows interactors to use narratively rich objects as gateways into the past as they piece together a spy thriller set in historical Algiers. They are also the creators of Captain Chronomek: a steampunk time traveler who blends elements of Dr. Who, James Bond, and MacGyver. Captain Chronomek injects wonder back into the timeline, rewriting history, and opposing the sinister forces of the Static Harmonium.