Anyone who pushes open the heavy door to the Maker Space will be greeted by busy activity. The laser cutter clicks. In front of a row of colorful 3D printers, two young men are talking about their projects. More hardware or software oriented? Ah, interesting. Maybe there will be a collaboration? Soldering, threading, sketching and discarding are carried out on the work tables in the rear part of the workshop. A man with two wooden strips about 2.30 meters long under his arm opens the door, says hello and shuffles towards the woodworking rooms.
When Philip Flavio talks about Maker Space, he can hardly suppress the rapture in his voice. The 31-year-old has been living in the district, in Grünwald, for three years and got to know the open workshops on the research campus in Garching through his employer BMW. Since then, he has been spending his private time in the Maker Space to build his own pieces on the lacercutter or the CNC wood milling machine. “I also like to do handicrafts at home, but in the Maker Space you simply have completely different options,” says Flavio. In 2015 the Maker Space opened, which calls itself a “prototype workshop”, built up and financed by Unternehmer-TUM GmbH, a start-up and innovation center headed by BMW owner Susanne Klatten.
The frog comes from a 3D printer – there is also that in the Maker Space.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
On 1500 square meters, creative spirits, hobbyists and techies will find almost everything their hearts desire, at least when it comes to high-tech machines: welding, soldering, turning, sawing, finishing surfaces, printing and scanning shapes, building individual circuit boards, plastic materials to metal and ceramics, all of this is possible here, for private individuals as well as for students, start-ups or established companies. A greenhouse for ideas.
Flavio would like to initiate one of these in his place of residence in Grünwald, even if he did not get through it at first. “The exchange of experiences in the Maker Space is very valuable, you also inspire each other there. You walk through the workshop and at the end you have ten new ideas,” he says. Such a publicly accessible workshop would also enrich Grünwald’s leisure activities, believes the 31-year-old. Of course, the workshop in Grünwald would have a different dimension than the one in Garching, so Flavio has no illusions. Workbenches, a good basic set of tools and a few selected larger machines in a suitable location, that would be his idea. “The purpose is that you can just try it out and realize your own ideas, even as a tenant who may not have a garage at home to do handicrafts with.” Citizens could also help each other at repair cafés to repair broken electrical and other devices.
Maker Space thinks a few sizes bigger. A second workshop has just opened in Munich Urban Colab in the new creative quarter at Leonrodplatz in Munich. In Garching, the focus is on paving the way for new founders to really bring their ideas to market. “We want to make it possible to develop prototypes quickly in order to be able to demonstrate something,” says Jasmin Eigemann from Unternehmer-TUM. In addition to the workshops, the Maker Space cosmos also includes workshops, exchange events and competitions, coaching and links with companies. Some of today’s successful companies started there.
In the Maker Space, users will not only find machines, but also materials such as sandpaper in all possible grain sizes.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
The team of the “Hyperloop” project at the Technical University of Munich, for example, spent years building its capsules in the Maker Space; the “Curveboard” was developed in Garching, as was the fully automated greenhouse from Agrilution and the “Air up” drinking bottle system. Wesley Fourie is cutting a surfboard on the CNC wood milling machine. The native South African wants to achieve the breakthrough with his company “Furi Kiteboarding” and sustainably manufactured surfboards. In the Maker Space he can find everything he needs to work on new prototypes. Missing machines held back many developers, says Fourie from his own experience.
In Grünwald, however, this appeal has not yet been heard. The administrative committee of the municipal council rejected Flavio’s application for the establishment of a public workshop, which he had introduced to the citizens’ meeting, on Tuesday with eight to four votes. The reason: A workshop like the Maker Space fits into a university town like Garching, but the project is too big for Grünwald. In order to open a workshop comparable to that in Garching, the municipality would have to set up a GmbH and hire staff from the administration’s point of view.
A misunderstanding, says Flavio. The Garching Maker Space is managed professionally and has around a dozen permanent employees; Private individuals can buy a membership and thus access to the workshops. For Grünwald, on the other hand, the 31-year-old thinks in much smaller dimensions: There the workshop could be organized by a permanent team of volunteers, and the opening times could initially be limited to the weekend, according to Flavio’s idea.
Also the Munich Fablab not far from the Donnersberger Brücke, a smaller independent workshop, has been successfully organized by volunteers in an association since 2010. He himself would make himself available for a support team, says Flavio. “And I am convinced that more helpers could be found.” He received some positive feedback from neighbors after the town hall meeting. The applicant would like the municipality to have a suitable room, a bright, lockable room, possibly in the house of encounter or in the youth center. In addition, the community could pay for the basic equipment or companies could be advertised as sponsors.
In any case, Flavio does not want to give up his idea. On the contrary. He would like to get more Grünwalder interested in the project and clear up misunderstandings through the regulars’ table of the FDP. Maybe there will soon be a workshop for new ideas in Grünwald after all.