{"id":1625,"date":"2024-10-02T18:04:57","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T22:04:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/?p=1625"},"modified":"2026-02-11T18:08:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T23:08:41","slug":"reunion-weekend-at-the-makerspace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/projects\/reunion-weekend-at-the-makerspace\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Reunion Weekend at the Makerspace"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">During the sunny and pleasant reunion weekend of June 7th and 8th, the Makerspace was bustling, offering tours and hands-on making experiences to over 200 Williams alums and their families. We prepared a hands-on project that would allow people to use 3D-printed molds to cast Makerspace-themed coasters, sourced from upcycled Amazon cardboard boxes. This fun experience allowed us to share and discuss an environmentally friendly DIY project that people could easily replicate at home. People can even create their own custom molds!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">During the alumni reunion weekend, the kids seemed most excited to mix the ingredients, mold the pulp, and finally clamp the coasters. They also got to take home coasters that we had prepared (and dried!) ahead of time.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1626\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/09\/PXL_20240607_170732196.MP-1-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1626\" class=\"wp-image-1626\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/09\/PXL_20240607_170732196.MP-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Alums in the Makerspace on June 7th, 2024\" width=\"640\" height=\"505\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/09\/PXL_20240607_170732196.MP-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/09\/PXL_20240607_170732196.MP-1-300x237.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/09\/PXL_20240607_170732196.MP-1-1024x808.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/09\/PXL_20240607_170732196.MP-1-768x606.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/09\/PXL_20240607_170732196.MP-1-1536x1211.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/09\/PXL_20240607_170732196.MP-1-2048x1615.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/09\/PXL_20240607_170732196.MP-1-380x300.jpg 380w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1626\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alums in the Makerspace on June 7th, 2024<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Recipe<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cardboard boxes (50g)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Water (170g)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">PVA Glue (15g) (we used Titebond II woodworkers glue; Elmer\u2019s white glue works, too)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Tools<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/CANARY-Corrugated-Cardboard-Non-Stick-Coating\/dp\/B008RIS0UY\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Canary corrugated cardboard cutter<\/a> (an amazing kid-safe knife)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Blender (we used an old donated blender)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/IRWINQUICK-GRIPOne-Handed-Bar-Clamp-Medium-Duty-1964717\/dp\/B001JT87RY\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Quick release clamps<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Reusable-Cheesecloth-Straining-Unbleached-Strainer\/dp\/B0BJ1Y4C2J\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cheesecloth<\/a> (or other thin cloth to remove liquid from pulp)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Instructions<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cut the Amazon boxes into small pieces<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Add into the blender: 50g of cardboard, 170g of water, and 15g of glue<\/span>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_1638\" style=\"width: 590px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240608_170850751-3-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1638\" class=\"wp-image-1638\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240608_170850751-3-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"The kids were excited to mix the ingredients (cardboard, water, and glue)\" width=\"580\" height=\"437\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240608_170850751-3-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240608_170850751-3-300x226.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240608_170850751-3-1024x771.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240608_170850751-3-768x578.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240608_170850751-3-1536x1157.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240608_170850751-3-2048x1542.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240608_170850751-3-398x300.jpg 398w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1638\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The kids were excited to mix the ingredients (cardboard, water, and glue)<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Blend until it\u2019s thick and looks like wet clay<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif;font-size: 15px\">Assemble the 3D-printed mold: we used and modified this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.printables.com\/model\/82144-pulp-it\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pulp-it<\/a> model<\/span><\/span>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_1639\" style=\"width: 590px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240608_171255049-2-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1639\" class=\"wp-image-1639\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240608_171255049-2-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Kids took turns squeezing extra water from the pulp\" width=\"580\" height=\"437\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240608_171255049-2-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240608_171255049-2-300x226.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240608_171255049-2-1024x771.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240608_171255049-2-768x578.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240608_171255049-2-1536x1157.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240608_171255049-2-2048x1542.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/PXL_20240608_171255049-2-398x300.jpg 398w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1639\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kids took turns squeezing extra water from the pulp<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif;font-size: 15px\">Put the pulp in a cheese cloth and squeeze the excess water out<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fill the mold with the damp pulp<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Press the pulp with your hands so that it is dense and evenly distributed in the mold<\/span>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_1642\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/New-image.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1642\" class=\"wp-image-1642\" style=\"font-weight: bold;background-color: #eeeeee\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/New-image.png\" alt=\"And this is how you squeeze the clamps on the mold!\" width=\"450\" height=\"598\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/New-image.png 790w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/New-image-226x300.png 226w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/New-image-770x1024.png 770w, https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/New-image-768x1021.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1642\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">And this is how you squeeze the clamps on the mold!<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Attach the lid to the mold <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Press the mold using a clamp<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Let it dry for 24 hours<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Carefully remove it from the mold and gently place it to dry in direct sunlight (or in front of a fan or heater vent) for about 6 hours<\/span><\/li>\n<li>It should now be 100% dry and solid<\/li>\n<li><strong>Nice work!<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_1643\" style=\"width: 341px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/Image-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1643\" class=\"wp-image-1643\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/Image-2.jpg\" alt=\"Fusion 360 software: We ended up iterating and tried inverting the extrusion of our design. Which version do you like better?\" width=\"331\" height=\"436\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1643\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fusion 360 software: We ended up iterating and tried inverting the extrusion of our design. Which version do you like better?<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The kids had a blast making the coasters while learning about how upcycling minimizes waste in our environment. This activity demonstrated how individual action, no matter how small, may collectively impact positive change.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1644\" style=\"width: 497px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/Image-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1644\" class=\"wp-image-1644\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/Image-1.jpg\" alt=\"A pile of upcycled coasters made by our alumni's children (from scrap Amazon boxes)\" width=\"487\" height=\"369\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1644\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pile of upcycled coasters made by our alumni&#8217;s children (from scrap Amazon boxes)<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling\/containers-and-packaging-product-specific\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Environmental Protection Agency<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Packaging materials account for 28.1 percent of the total municipal solid waste (MSW), amounting to 82.2 million tons of generation in 2018. This amount poses a high environmental risk and requires systemic and individual actions to mitigate the risks.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1628\" style=\"width: 462px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-2024-09-25-at-4.46.19-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1628\" class=\"wp-image-1628\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-2024-09-25-at-4.46.19-PM.png\" alt=\"A pile of Amazon boxes\" width=\"452\" height=\"231\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1628\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pile of Amazon boxes<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We were inspired by this <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.printables.com\/model\/82144-pulp-it\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pulp-it<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> project, and then we modified their open-source parts by using Fusion 360 software to add the Makerspace logo onto the coaster. To do this, we added an image of the logo and then extruded (raised) it about 8mm. To minimize waste, we tested our prototype models by printing it at 15% of the actual size.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1636\" style=\"width: 291px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/image.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1636\" class=\"wp-image-1636\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/image.png\" alt=\"Fusion 360 software: Before adding our logo\" width=\"281\" height=\"227\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1636\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fusion 360 software: Before adding our logo<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1637\" style=\"width: 302px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/image-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1637\" class=\"wp-image-1637\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/files\/2024\/10\/image-1.png\" alt=\"Fusion 360 software: After adding our logo\" width=\"292\" height=\"225\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1637\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fusion 360 software: After adding our logo<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the sunny and pleasant reunion weekend of June 7th and 8th, the Makerspace was bustling, offering tours and hands-on making experiences to over 200 Williams alums and their families. We prepared a hands-on project that would allow people to &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/projects\/reunion-weekend-at-the-makerspace\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3047,"featured_media":1626,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[15,69,37,39],"class_list":["post-1625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-projects","tag-3d-print","tag-makerspace","tag-sustainability","tag-upcycling"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3047"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1625"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2891,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1625\/revisions\/2891"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/makerspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}