Calling all engineers & manufacturers...

Every engineer and every manufacturer in northeast Oklahoma should support Fab Lab Tulsa, at least in my humble opinion.

I support the Philbrook Museum of Art by getting an annual membership.  It's not expensive at all, but I do it; not because I'm an artist but because I believe in their mission.

I support the Tulsa Zoo as a Zoo Friend, not because I'm a pet owner but because I believe in their mission.

Does someone who donates to the Red Cross need to have received blood or emergency relief services?  No.  You just have to believe in their mission to support their cause.

The same holds true for Fab Lab Tulsa.  Engineers and manufacturers rarely find a philanthropic venture which is so taylor-made for their interests...technology, education, workforce development, research and entrepreneurship.

• Are you a manufacturer or do you work for one?  Consider supporting Fab Lab Tulsa because you believe in our mission.
• Are you an engineer or do you know one or work with one?  Consider supporting Fab Lab Tulsa.

Thanks!

The latest news

Oh my goodness have we been busy the past several weeks!  The Fab Lab Tulsa team has been going all out following the opening on September 13.

We've hosted over a hundred guests, dozens of tours and several smaller group meetings.  The response has been fantastic.  The Tulsa Hackathon was at the lab recently, and Tulsa Start-Up Weekend is coming up.  Fab Flight has started meetings there (global team building a UAV), and several engineering club meetings like the Engineering Society of Tulsa have held meetings.

Jumpstart classes are humming along too...join in the fun!

Our educational programming is off to a great start having had a successful Phase One program with San Miguel Middle School.  Phase Two starts very soon.  Further, we've made a great connection with Tulsa MET, an exceptional alternative school...and we hope to have one of there students working the lab in the coming weeks.

On the community side, we've got a great idea for an enhanced partnership with Philbrook...a bit more planning but we're on the right track.  Our volunteers have been canvasing the TU area with flyers and we're getting great response.  Josh Moseby was just at TU giving a great talk to some new engineers.

For the business arena, we're ramping up our outreach.  We're making great strides but need some help.  We're happy to take referrals for business or corporate memberships.

Along those lines, the Tulsa Metro Chamber has offered scholarships for memberships to Fab Lab Tulsa.  If you or anyone you know is interested in a scholarship let us know and we can work with the Chamber to determine your eligibility.

In other news, we still have to raise money...almost $100,000 before Dec 31.  We're a 501(c)3 organization and can write tax receipts for any donation.  See our Support tab to get more info.

That's all for now!

A robotic bird with flapping wings!

Check this out from TED...a robotic bird which propels itself by flapping it's wings.  Truly amazing.  See here.

Festo, if you're not familiar with the company, does some pretty amazing bio-inspired design ranging from manufacturing and material handling to floating robotic penguins to the flapping bird.  It's a German company and they do some pretty impeccable engineering.  I'd love to see one of their labs and find out how they do such incredible work.

I studied German all through high school and was actually quite good, the intention being that my German skills could help me in my engineering career.  Unfortunately, I only had one short opportunity to use German when I was designing the cabin windows for the Airbus A380.