Maker Faire brings innovation and inspiration to Long Island

BY AIDAN JOHNSON INTERN@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

The Long Island Maker Faire returned to Port Jefferson for its 6th iteration last Saturday, June 3, with more innovation than ever.

Hosted by the Long Island Explorium, Maker Faire is a celebration of all things science, technology, engineering, mathematics [STEM] and art.

“I think this a great opportunity for people of all ages to come and really see science in action, or at least technology in action,” said Angeline Judex, executive director of the Long Island Explorium and one of the producers of the Long Island Maker Faire.

She added, “We always hear about it, we read about it. But when you’re actually in the midst of it and having an interaction with it, you kind of understand better.”

Judex said she has seen growth in the event since it first started, believing the quality has improved substantially. This year, they were even able to host Beshoy Badros and Michael Henry, two members from Maker Faire Cairo.

“We used to attend the Maker Faire Cairo … but this is the first time [attending] a global maker faire,” said Badros in an interview. “I’m a local here in New York. Michael came all the way from Cairo. So it was a great pleasure to be here and participate together in this event today.”

Badros and Henry, whose booth featured a series of handmade wooden automata toys, expressed their delight for the venue, Harborfront Park in downtown Port Jeff, along with the opportunity to meet a variety of new makers.

“Every artist here at the Maker Faire does things a little bit different,” Henry said. “They have very unique tastes. So when you walk around and just explore all the way and everything here, you can just be inspired a lot with different ideas, different ways of doing things.”

Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) was also in attendance, noting Maker Faire’s impact lasts far longer than just the one day out of the year.

Maker Faire “provides a practical showcase of things that people are doing and technologies that are being developed,” the councilmember said, adding, “I think that the solutions to a lot of the problems we face as a society lie in technology, and the types of things you’re seeing here are the solutions of those problems.”

At last year’s Maker Faire, Kornreich met Dr. Mei-Lin “Ete” Chan, a research assistant professor at Stony Brook University who has created technology to help people with disabilities. Afterwards, they started networking together and contacted other schools and students.

Chan described the advancements, such as 3D printed bones that can be paired with human stem cells and integrated in the human body. She said she sees Maker Faire as a faster way to get a large, new group of people interested in STEM.

“It’s not just one person helping people,” she said. “When I [came] in today, we brought a bunch of college students over, and they became the ones who teach another 10 students,” adding, “It’s a really big multiplying effect that we have been able to do.”

Whether it was Jedi training with members of the Saber Guild, learning to make one’s own bubble solution or watching robots brawl, the Long Island Maker Faire offered young minds a chance to explore the world — and change it.