
The University of Cincinnati's Ground Floor Makerspace, a formidable name in the Southwest Ohio tech scene, had a big 2024 by housing developments in everything from airport safety to STEAM education. This makerspace, ensconced within the 1819 Innovation Hub, stretches over 12,000 square feet and has become a hive of innovation for local builders and entrepreneurs.
Last year's highlights included a high-tech "runway Roomba" built by Airtrek Robotics. It uses sensors and AI to keep runways free of foreign object debris (FOD), which is a pretty big deal considering FOD costs can soar as high as $22.7 billion annually for the aviation industry. "Our partnership with the 1819 Innovation Hub gave us access to invaluable resources, funding, and mentorship," Airtrek Robotics' co-founder and CEO Chris Kyoochul Lee said in a statement obtained by UC News.
Another triumph from the makerspace is ADAAPT, a brainchild of UC's DAAP, where the public can purchase art created by the students themselves. A pop-up shop displaying their wares launched last December in Over-the-Rhine and didn't struggle to find buyers – it sold out practically on opening. DAAP industrial design alumna Ally Widzinski told UC News, "Booking a permanent place for this showcase is huge and just shows the impact it makes on the students, faculty and shoppers who come."
Meanwhile, Cincinnati's Kinetic Vision built a bridge to the future for UC's co-op students with a digital fabrication boot camp. This was a hands-on affair, with an aim to imbue students with valuable tech fabrication skills they can carry into their careers. "It was great for students to be able to collaborate with their peers, build rapport with one another, and learn how to work as a team in a challenging environment," Justin Rost, lead design engineer at Kinetic Vision, told UC News.
UC also trained K-12 teachers on how to integrate maker-centered learning into their classrooms through the Makers in Education program. "Hands-on making teaches students to approach challenges creatively and persistently," Indian Hill Elementary School's Amanda Sopko reflected in a UC News interview. And there's the Vertetrain, an innovative scoliosis implant conceived for pediatric care, proving that UC's reach in innovation extends well into vital areas of healthcare.
Between teaching the next generation of entrepreneurs and changing the way we approach existing problems, UC's Ground Floor Makerspace is reshaping the landscape of local innovation one prototype at a time, demonstrating that some of the most groundbreaking ideas are being born not in silos of isolation, but in collaborative community spaces designed for creation and exchange.
For more details, check out the full stories on UC News.