Group 6

LSTA EZ Collaboration and Innovation Grant

2013-2014 Application
Submitted To: State Library of North Carolina
Submitted By: Aaron White and Catherine Prince
April 25, 2013

EZ Collaboration and Innovation Grant, 2013-2014 Application

University of North Carolina Greensboro

Group 6

1. USERS AND NEED

UNCGs Jackson Library serves 1.15 million visitors a year; this includes
UNCGs students, faculty, and staff and members of the public. It is the goal
of Jackson Library to provide quality information services, systems, facilities
and learning environments from which the University community will gather
information and conduct research as well as establishing a collaborative
environment for student learning and research in conjunction with academic
faculty (Mission). A Fab Lab promotes engagement, outreach, and
knowledge (ala.org) within the community it serves. With the Fab Lab,
Jackson Library can use nontraditional library materials to transform current
practices in learning, curriculums, and research for the entire UNCG
community (3D Printing is).

Patrons are lacking a collaborative space for design and the creation of
objects. The technology that is needed for patrons to design and create
cannot be bought by the patrons themselves. The technology is out of their
price range and it is not feasible for individuals to purchase large machinery
and supplies. The lack of technology and space to design and create projects
is impeding the educational growth of our patrons. Students have no place
to go to create projects and collaborate with their peers. Fab Labs are used
throughout the world as a places for the community to develop and produce
solutions to local problems (nsf.gov). Providing a space for patrons to
EZ Collaboration and Innovation Grant, 2013-2014 Application
University of North Carolina Greensboro

Group 6

experiment and research, outside the walls of the classroom, would create
the potential for new ideas and products to be generated.

Having a Fab Lab on campus, open to the entire campus community, would
permit a level of interdepartmental collaboration beyond anything the
campus has ever seen. All too often, departments become gated
communities, zealously sealed off from one another. This intellectual
segregation bottlenecks potential synergy between different disciplines. A
Fab Lab offers multiple solutions to this problem. When students from every
department gather in one place to realize designs and create objects, they
can cross-pollinate in uncontrived and unplanned ways.

The Interior Architecture program at UNCG has a studio called The Computer
Aided Making Studio (CAMStudio) which is quite similar to the kind of Fab Lab
we intend to house at Jackson Library. It is specifically for students in the
Interior Architecture program, while the library Fab Lab will be for the entire
campus community.

2. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

A Fabrication Lab generally consists of two 3D printers, one consumer grade

for prototypes, proofs-of-concept, etc., and one professional grade printer for
fine finished products; a computer-controlled laser cutter for etching and
EZ Collaboration and Innovation Grant, 2013-2014 Application
University of North Carolina Greensboro

Group 6

carving, and a 3D scanner, which allows users to scan and copy existing
objects in much the way they use photocopy machines to copy existing print
materials. Fab Labs are also known as makerspaces or hackerspaces. UNCG
aims to establish and operate a Fab Lab on campus that will be a new part of
the librarys offerings that are available to the library patrons.

It is not the equipment within the Fab Lab that defines it, rather the
principles it is built on. Imagination, creation, experimentation, and learning
are the guiding axioms. Fab Labs are gaining ground across the country and
are allowing faculty and students to instruct and learn in new ways, all while
preparing future graduates for the workforce (Makerspaces).

The use of this technology at UNCG is limited to the Interior Architecture

departments students. At Dalhousie University, the addition of Fab Lab
technologies in centralized location, available to the entire campus
population, promoted the growth of inter-faculty and inter-departmental
research and collaboration (Groenendyk). With the addition of 3D printers
and scanners the University of Nevada-Renos DeLaMare Library saw average
head counts increase over eight times their peak hourly head count. Head
counts are expected to reach capacity at the end of their 2013 Spring
semester. The DeLaMare Library also hit the lifetime cost/use target within
the first four months of adding their Fab Lab (Good).

EZ Collaboration and Innovation Grant, 2013-2014 Application

University of North Carolina Greensboro

Group 6

3. PROJECT PARTNERS

The Honda Aircraft Company, with its world headquarters in Greensboro, was
built by experimentation, exploration, and research. Honda Aircraft
Company is proud to match 52.2% of LSTA grant funds for the Fab Lab at
Jackson Library. It is Honda Aircraft Companys vision for UNCG students to
follow their dreams, just as Honda does (Honda 2). Together with UNCG,
Honda Aircraft Company hopes to cement their commitment to the
community, both in Greensboro and North Carolina. Honda Aircraft Company
President and CEO Michimasa Fujino states we strive to impact our
communities and society in a positive way and by matching funds they are
investing in the dreams and innovations of the next generation (Honda).

The Interior Architecture department will provide Master degree seeking

students as interns. Their expertise in their own studies and use of the
departments CAMStudio will give patrons assistance from people who also
design and create.

4. LIBRARY GOALS

It is the mission of Jackson Library to advance and support learning,

research, and service. The Fab Lab environment will promote collaboration
and support research and activities within the University community
EZ Collaboration and Innovation Grant, 2013-2014 Application
University of North Carolina Greensboro

Group 6

(Mission). Through the partnership with Honda Aircraft Company, the

Piedmont Triad will be engaged in the success and support of the University
and Jackson Library. The Fab Lab will provide new learning opportunities for
information literacy and instructional technologies. Digital fabrication allows
people to create or appropriate three dimensional designs and turn them into
real world objects, quickly and with minimal labor. Modern 3D manufacturing
technology is making the means of production available and accessible to
anyone, with minimal skill/craft requirements. A Fabrication Lab makes
manufacturing simple, as long as the design is sound. Users can find designs
online, create their own designs, or even scan an existing object and copy it.
With the addition of the Fab Lab to Jackson Library, the services and systems
used will afford the community with a beneficial learning medium for
research and gathering information. Honda Aircraft Company and the grant
funds from the State Library of North Carolina allows Jackson Library to
explore and benefit from the entrepreneurial opportunities in our local and
state community to foster intellectual inquiry.

The Fab Lab at Jackson Library will support the goals of the State Library of
North Carolina.
Through Jackson Librarys partnership with Honda Aircraft Company and the
Interior Architecture department, patrons will have access to resources and
services that previously were not available. The collaboration between
Jackson Library and our partners will promote innovation in our community.
EZ Collaboration and Innovation Grant, 2013-2014 Application
University of North Carolina Greensboro

Group 6

Library staff will be trained on all aspects of the Fab Lab in order to provide
the best experience for the user. The users of the Fab Lab will walk away
with new skills and techniques that they can use to promote themselves in
the workforce. Jackson Library will be a partner with our patrons to ensure
that digital and information literacy will provide lifelong skills and foster
learning.

5. PROJECT GOALS / OUTCOMES

The Fab Lab at Jackson Library will allow students, whether they are skilled in
traditional handicrafts or not, to make things of their own invention, and
cross-pollinate ideas across departmental boundaries. As students learn to
turn their ideas into objects, they will learn how ideas become reality, and
how reality extends from ideas. Ideas from every corner of the campus
community will interconnect at the Fab Lab, which will be a nexus point for
interdisciplinary blending in the best Liberal Arts tradition.

The Fab Lab will give patrons the opportunity to use technologies that are
becoming more prevalent in the workforce. It is a goal of the Fab Lab to
provide resources to assist patrons in becoming strong members of the
workforce. With the skills and knowledge they can learn, patrons will have a
competitive edge. The Fab Lab will also provide an arena for research and
innovation. We aspire to see an increase in faculty and student based
EZ Collaboration and Innovation Grant, 2013-2014 Application
University of North Carolina Greensboro

Group 6

research campuswide.

6. PROJECT ACTIVITIES

An existing staff member at Jackson Library will be chosen as the project

manager and will continue, after the project is complete as the director of
the Fab Lab. We will begin by selecting a well-ventilated, accessible location
for the lab. Accessibility, safety, and permanency will be primary qualifiers
for this area; convenience to the library, if the Fab Lab cannot be located in
Jackson Library itself, will also be a primary concern. Faculty/staff from the
Interior Architecture Department have experience with the CAMStudio, and
will provide guidance, support, and interns to assist in setup.

We will announce the Fab Lab to the public as soon as funding is in place.
Press releases, website promotion, social media, Youtube promotional videos,
and announcements on the campus radio station will inform both established
patrons and prospective new users that the Jackson Library has a venue for
makers and people who are interested in exploring the Maker revolution to
come and work/play.

Interns will be tasked with creating and distributing a marketing campaign

under the direction of the project manager along with the setup and testing
of the technology. Marketing will last through the fall semester and interns
EZ Collaboration and Innovation Grant, 2013-2014 Application
University of North Carolina Greensboro

Group 6

will conduct interviews and collect questionnaires in the fall and spring
semesters to provide qualitative data for analysis.

Timeline

Time Frame

Activity

Responsible
Party(ies)

June

Order technology and supplies

Project Manager

June

Assess locations for site

Project Manager

June

Recruit interns

Project Manager

June-August

Set up and test technology

Project Manager and

Interns

July

Create marketing campaign

Project Manager and

Interns

July-December

Distribute marketing materials

Project Manager and

Interns

August

Open Fab Lab to Patrons

Project Manager

August-May

Interviews/Questionnaires

Interns

7. BENEFITS TO USERS

Libraries across the country are adding Fab Labs at a growing rate. The Hunt
Library at NCSU, for example, has its Makerspace open seven days a week,
offering two 3D printers, a 3D scanner and a laser cutter. As startling as the
possibilities of 3D printing are, they are the new normal, and academic
EZ Collaboration and Innovation Grant, 2013-2014 Application
University of North Carolina Greensboro

Group 6

institutions are increasingly adding 3D printing resources to their campus

offerings. Students will be able to create models and prototypes with ease,
creating proofs of concept, and exploring the entrepreneurial possibilities
that have been reconfigured by 3D printing. Fab Labs offer precisely the kind
of possibilities that Universities need to offer students: the chance to explore
ways that young people can create the shape of the future. Every
department in the school can benefit from seeing its ideas and concerns
manifested in tactile forms, in ways that students and faculty create and
shape. As Neil Gershenfeld, the Director of MITs Center for Bits and Atoms
and originator of Fab Labs, has stated, The revolution is not additive versus
subtractive manufacturing; it is the ability to turn data into things and things
into data (cba.mit.edu).

In a library Fab Lab, students of the Visual and Performing Arts departments
could work with their peers in the Math department to create props, costume
pieces, and set pieces that blend complex, cutting-edge mathematical and
geometrical formulae with aesthetic principles in ways the world has never
seen. The Pre-Med and Pre-Dental programs could create full models of
skeletons from CT scans. The Consumer, Apparel, and Retail Studies
program could unleash student and faculty creativity in new ways that
combine flexibility with low cost. Students could generate prototypes with
minimal time and material, then develop successful experiments into fully
realized products that are reproducible realizations of one-of-a-kind designs.
EZ Collaboration and Innovation Grant, 2013-2014 Application
University of North Carolina Greensboro

10

Group 6

The addition of the Fab Lab to Jackson Library will be known across campus
and Greensboro. Social media, YouTube videos, ads on the campus radio
station, press releases, and the UNCG websites scrolling flash banner will let
users know, prior to and after the opening of the Fab Lab, of its presence.
Also, we will invite members of the local media to The Grand Opening to get
the first look of the Fab Lab and show it to their viewers and readers. The
alumni magazine, UNCG Magazine has agreed to do an article on the
addition of the Fab Lab to Jackson Library.

Staff training will occur during all phases of the project. Prior to June, the
project manager will tour the Makerspace at NC State Universitys Hunt
Library to observe and operate the technology. The project manager will be
in charge of holding workshops training sessions for current staff members
after setup is complete. Staff will need to know how to use the software and
load print materials into all machines. Training will be provided for all new
hires after the project is complete, along with refresher sessions for existing
staff at times of major software or hardware updates.

8. EVALUATION

Like most computers within Jackson Library, the terminals in the Fab Lab will
require a UNCG login to access the needed software. This login method will
EZ Collaboration and Innovation Grant, 2013-2014 Application
University of North Carolina Greensboro

11

Group 6

allow us to quantitatively account for the number of users in the Fab Lab.
Print counts can be monitored through the print server and through the
SpartanCash payment system. An online reservation system will give us a
figure that will show the demand of the services the Fab Lab provides.

Staff will conduct brief, non-intrusive surveys to stay on top of which

departments and demographics the users represent, what needs they are
seeking to meet with the Lab, and what frustrations and successes they
meet along the way. The campus press will be encouraged to participate in
preserving the Labs story. Questionnaires and a suggestion box will be
available, and patrons will be encouraged to use them in order to help with
needs assessments.

9. CIPA CERTIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE

N/A

10. MATCHING FUNDS / LOCAL COMMITMENT

Honda Aircraft Company is matching 52.2% of LSTA grant funds for a total
contribution of $26,089.43.

11. BUDGET NARRATIVE

EZ Collaboration and Innovation Grant, 2013-2014 Application
University of North Carolina Greensboro

12

Group 6

The Stratasys Dimension uPrint SE Plus is a professional-level 3D Printer that

allows users to create high-grade thermoplastic objects. It retails for $21,
200.

The Makerbot Replicator 2 is a prosumer 3D Printer that allows users to make

bioplastic objects. Its lower resolution and cheaper materials make it ideal
for the novice maker, for experimentation, and for proofs of concept. It
retails for $2,549.

The Epilog Zing 24 Laser Cutter can cut and etch material, working from
designs in programs such as Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator. It retails for
$7,995.

The NextEngine 3D Scanner HD allows users to scan existing objects and

copy them with 3D printers, in much the same way that photocopiers
reproduce printed material. It is available for $8,975.

All of the above items are standard aspects of a Fab Lab

(http://fab.cba.mit.edu/about/faq/).

The cost of materials will be offset/covered by fees per use, just as many
libraries charge for use of photocopiers.

EZ Collaboration and Innovation Grant, 2013-2014 Application

University of North Carolina Greensboro

13

Group 6

Two Graduate Research Assistant interns will be needed between the months
of June and May to help supervise and maintain the Fab Lab. They will
receive a stipend equivalent to $15/hour for 40 hours a week during the
summer semester, and 20 hours a week during the fall and spring
semesters.

Three Dell Inspiron 660 desktop computers will be purchased for use with the
Makerbot, Stratasys, and Epilog Zing. Each terminal will run on 64-bit
Windows 7 and is equipped with an Intel i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 1TB
hard drive. A Dell Inspiron 15R laptop will be purchased for use with the
NextEngine 3D scanner. It will run on 64-bit Windows 7 and is equipped with
an Intel i5 processor, 6GB of RAM, and a 500GB hard drive. The computers
will need to have the operating power and fast processing to run specialized
software to allow for production. Each desktop will cost $689.98 and the
laptop will be $629.99, for a total of $2,699.93.

A list of eighteen reference books will be purchased for use within the Fab
Lab as tools to assist patrons as they work. The total cost of the titles retails
for $801.85 on Amazon.

Furniture will need to be included to create workstations and a meeting area.

Three 60x30 tables will be purchased along with six computer chairs to
create workstations. Three wall shelves will be hung to hold reference books.
EZ Collaboration and Innovation Grant, 2013-2014 Application
University of North Carolina Greensboro

14

Group 6

To create a collaborative meeting area, a mobile lounge table with four light
weight chairs will be purchased. The mobility of the meeting area will allow
for functional uses of the area. The furniture will be purchased from Gaylord
Furniture and IKEA for a total of $2,847.95.

EZ Collaboration and Innovation Grant, 2013-2014 Application

University of North Carolina Greensboro

15

Group 6

12.BUDGET TABLE

13. ABSTRACT

The UNCG Library Program will establish a Fab Lab/Makerspace for the
campus community to manufacture objects using cutting-edge 3D printing,
EZ Collaboration and Innovation Grant, 2013-2014 Application
University of North Carolina Greensboro

16

Group 6

3D scanning, and laser etching. The Fab Lab will provide users with simple
and inexpensive access to the latest means of manufacturing. This tracks
with similar efforts at academic libraries across the country, putting easy-touse manufacturing tools into the hands of students, faculty, and community
patrons. The Fab Lab will be open to all library patrons, and run by the UNCG
Library Department. Through the monetary support of the NC State Library
grant and the Honda Aircraft Company the Fab Lab will serve as a meeting
place for research development. Users will be encouraged to experiment,
create, and design their own projects while learning skills that enrich their
lives.

REFERENCE LIST
"3D Printing Is Just the Beginning: The Future of Makerspaces within
Academic Libraries Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL)."
American Library Association. http://www.ala.org/acrl/makerspaces
(accessed April, 2013).
3D Printing of Preclinical X-ray Computed Tomographic Data Sets,
published March 22, 2013, http://www.jove.com/video/50250/3d-printingof-preclinical-x-ray-computed-tomographic-data-sets
Fab Lab FAQ,http://fab.cba.mit.edu/about/faq/ (modified March 31,
2013).
Good, Travis. 2013. "Three Makerspace Models That Work." American
Libraries 44, no. 1/2: 45-47. Library, Information Science & Technology
Abstracts with Full Text, EBSCOhost (accessed April 2013).
Michael Groenendyk, Riel Gallant, (2013) "3D printing and scanning at
the Dalhousie University Libraries: a pilot project", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 31
Iss: 1, pp.34 - 41
EZ Collaboration and Innovation Grant, 2013-2014 Application
University of North Carolina Greensboro

17

Group 6

Honda Aircraft Company Sends 500 Care Packages to Deployed North

Carolina-Based Troops, accessed April, 2013,
http://hondajet.honda.com/news/article.aspx?
ArticleType=pressrelease&CatType=news_detail_128.xml
Honda Aircraft Company, last modified March 8, 2013,
http://hondajet.honda.com/company/
How to Make Almost Anything: The Digital Fabrication Revolution. Foreign
Affairs, November/December 2012. Modified September 28, 2012.
http://cba.mit.edu/docs/papers/12.09.FA.pdf
Interior Architecture:CAMstudio. The University of North Carolina at
Greensboro (UNCG). http://www.uncg.edu/iar/resources/camStudio.html
(Last modified April, 2013).
Makerspaces Move into Academic Libraries,
http://acrl.ala.org/techconnect/?p=2340 (uploaded November, 2012).
"Mission Statement ." The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
(UNCG). http://library.uncg.edu/info/mission_statement.aspx (accessed
April, 2013).
MIT Fab Labs Bring Personal Fabrication to People Around the World,
publication date November 30, 2004,
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=100425
NCSU Libraries: Makerspace 3D Printing FAQ,
http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/spaces/makerspace#laserfaq (accessed April,
2013)
"nsf.gov - National Science Foundation (NSF) News - MIT Fab Labs Bring
"Personal Fabrication" to People Around the World - US National Science
Foundation (NSF)." nsf.gov - National Science Foundation - US National
Science Foundation (NSF). http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?
cntn_id=100425 (accessed April, 2013).

EZ Collaboration and Innovation Grant, 2013-2014 Application

University of North Carolina Greensboro

18

Group 6

EZ Collaboration and Innovation Grant, 2013-2014 Application

University of North Carolina Greensboro

19