Program Manager: David Keiser-Clark
Student Workers: Tash Ahmed ‘26, Camily Hidalgo ‘26, Harris Longfield ‘27, Valeria Menjívar ‘26, Sam Samuel ‘26, Elena Sore ‘27, Divine Uwimana ‘27, Milton Vento ‘26, Qi Wang ‘26

David Keiser-Clark

I am the Makerspace Program Manager and a member of the Office for Information Technology (OIT) staff. I build relationships with faculty and staff and assign their incoming project requests to my student workers. I foster an inclusive environment and mentor my student workers as they learn to use traditional and emerging technologies to complete projects that enhance academic courses or campus initiatives.

— Read: David’s blog posts

Tash Ahmed ‘26

At Williams, my Computer Science and Math classes keep my brain buzzing, but there’s something missing—there’s a kind of tactile creativity that coding alone just can’t fulfill for me. Enter the Makerspace, my campus refuge for hands-on innovation. It’s more than just a hobby space; it’s an extension of my educational experience, a place where the digital logic from my courses can manifest into physical, working projects. Back in high school, my calendar was always marked up with Olympiad deadlines or Science Fair dates. I lived for the challenge of building things from scratch, and the Makerspace at Williams has effortlessly filled that void. But the Makerspace isn’t just about the gear and gadgets. What makes it special is the process—the trial and error, the troubleshooting, the “aha” moments. There’s something incredibly satisfying about conceiving an idea and then working through the kinks to make it a reality. Coding is one thing, but using that code to make something come to life is a game-changer. It brings an extra dimension to my studies, making the abstract concrete and providing a tangible payoff that’s as educational as it is exhilarating.

— Read: Tash’s blog posts

Camily Hidalgo ‘26

The Makerspace allows me to develop critical skills and engage and build amazing projects with faculty. This boosts my student learning while helping the college. It is a space where student workers can grow as people and future professionals. For me, even though it’s not totally related to my future plans of working in a neuroscience/chemistry lab, the Makerspace allows me to gain transferable skills related to engineering and robotics. The Makerspace is a fun space to work at, and it brings together people with similar interests, allowing us to collaborate and create wonderful projects that benefit our community.

— Read: Camily’s blog posts

Harris Longfield ‘27

I associate a Makerspace with big engineering schools with seemingly infinite resources, so the existence of one at a small liberal arts college like Williams really shows that there is a space and community for everybody here. As a physics and math student, the Makerspace is the perfect physical, intellectual, and creative outlet to hone in on my technical skills and complement my theoretical coursework. I always found hands-on work to be most exciting, and there is something special about turning the spark of an idea into a flawed prototype and, eventually, a functional model.

— Read: Harris’s blog posts

Valeria Menjívar ‘26

In the Makerspace, you can forget about school and work stress and focus on fun and challenging activities that speak to yourself. Williams classes are tough, and students (speaking for myself) love to have spaces like these where you can be your most curious self, be supported by peers, and have the opportunity to ask “Wait, so how do you do this again?” without being judged (you make mistakes, you grow, it’s ok!). Being the director of my own—mini—projects is also something I enjoy. One of the reasons I chose Williams was the chance to take tutorials, independent studies, conduct research, and be authentically curious! All of those experiences contribute to what makes Williams, Williams, and the Makerspace is just an extension of that. Most of the time, we think about independent thought, and we think about the humanities, but having access to a place where you can think, design, and create—at your own pace, in our own style, and at your own time is truly just that!

— Read: Valeria’s blog posts

Sam Samuel ‘26

The Makerspace is important to me because it allows me to do things that I’ve never done before. Not only does it allow me to interact with different faculty and staff on campus (and that’s nice for me since I’m an ENVI major), but it encourages collaboration and creativity. The Makerspace is important to me because I am often learning something new, my creativity juices are flowing, and simultaneously it’s fun. There wasn’t a Makerspace in my high school, and it’s incredibly important to me to have this avenue to do things here that I’d never otherwise have an opportunity to do, all while testing and redefining my limits.

— Read: Sam’s blog posts

Elena Sore ‘27

The Makerspace is important to me because I love the opportunities it gives me to really explore the design process creatively and develop projects. Throughout my time in school, creative outlets for design like robotics and engineering have really engaged me because I enjoy the problem-solving nature of these fields, especially when it comes to iterating on physical prototypes and designing not just an object on a computer screen but something that can actually be held and used to solve a problem. The experience of working in the Makerspace is wholly unique on the Williams Campus, and I’m incredibly grateful to have a part in it.

— Read: Elena’s blog posts

Divine Uwimana ‘27

As a Makerspace student worker, I am learning a lot, not just hands on but also from the people with whom I work. I’m nourishing my creative and problem solving skills, my communicating, critical thinking skills and am getting well rounded skills in so many areas of my life that need to be developed. On top of that, it’s a space that gives you an opportunity to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. The Makerspace is a platform for me to have an impact, especially working with the TIDE grant or any other project I’ll work on, and to not just make something, but to make something useful to other people. The Makerspace offers opportunities to explore so many things at once (i.e. 3D printing and robotics).

— Read: Divine’s blog posts

Milton Vento ‘26

My favorite thing about working in the Makerspace is that it provides a platform for hands-on, project-based learning where I can use both my hands and my mind to create something that has a lasting impact not only on myself, but also on others. I also get to practice soft skills such as project management, long-term and short-term planning, communication (verbal and written) as well as collaboration. The Makerspace offers a different kind of learning environment from classroom learning in that I get to drive a project from its beginning to end, deciding which parts to execute when and how, until eventually getting a finished product on which I can see my fingerprints. It combines learning and doing in a way I haven’t seen in most of my classes, which are mostly intellectual. Working in the Makerspace is almost like having an internship and getting an opportunity to work in the real world, producing something that other people can use. Taking ownership of a project nurtures intrinsic motivation which offers a different kind of perseverance. Upon grasping a new software or concept, using it becomes such an enjoyable experience that translates into mental wellness, thus allowing the space to boost your intellectual ability while supporting your mental wellbeing.

— Read: Milton’s blog posts

Qi Wang ‘26

The Makerspace is a perfect experiment field for a liberal arts college like Williams. It bridges the gap between theoretical concepts and practical reality. In the Makerspace, I can apply the knowledge and skills learned in a classroom setting to make physical objects relevant to the real world. The practice of making things transforms me from a consumer of academics to a producer of creations. And this applied process drains my knowledge tank—that’s a good thing—that I’ve accumulated over the years and makes me hungry to learn again. The collaboration between other student workers is productive. We combine our different strengths working together and give constructive feedback to further each other’s projects.

— Read: Qi’s blog posts

 

See also: Past Makerspace Student Workers