Engineers, painters and makers gathered together at the Bronco Makers Fair to share and showcase their passions and ideas. On April 11, from noon to 4 p.m., University Park was filled with 40 tables of students, clubs and organizations represented by all majors throughout the campus.
These tables included keychains made from wood, crafted soaps and lip balms, 3D-printed toys and trinkets and much more. Joshua Manue, a first-year mechanical engineering student, showcased some shield projects and a Halloween horse animatronic he built.
“So far, it’s great,” Manue said. “Getting people excited, his smile (horse animatronic) just puts a smile on people’s face, a little bit creepy, a little bit funny … they are stupid, they are for fun, I don’t know why I do them but they bring me enjoyment.”
Agueda Gutierrez, a fourth-year apparel merchandising and management student (AMM), has been working with her classmates in researching and designing a clothing line for students.
“We all have different roles and worked together to make the design,” Gutierrez said. “Since our department is across the street, they [students] don’t know about the fashion and the AMM department, so it’s a really good opportunity for us to tell people on campus that we actually have that here and there are students that actually sew and create clothing lines.”
The AMM 4140L class has been designing the AM^2 clothing line for the 2018-2019 school year since fall semester and will launch the clothing line in the Bronco Bookstore April 29.
“A lot of people are interested in it and they really liked the designs and a lot of them told us they didn’t even know that we had this here,” Gutierrez said.
Allison Inanoria, a third-year civil engineering student and president of Bronco Makers Club (BMC), plans for the Bronco Makers Fair to become an annual event.
“We want it to be a public event for years to come …. We are hoping that we get hundreds of tables and it’s going to be an opportunity for not only students and organizations on campus but also off-campus entities,” Inanori said. “Everyone here is represented and they are all makers; that’s the thing that binds us all together.”
Inanoria and the Bronco Makers Club (BMC) will be working with other councils and organizations to see when the next fair will be and how to make it reach its full potential.
“I am really, really proud of this project,” Inanoria said. “I am really glad I was given the opportunity to build this platform for students, because I think Cal Poly needs this and I am really excited and I hope that in the future years, it continues to expand and people continue to support it and believe in it because I think it’s an awesome opportunity for everyone to come together and show what Cal Poly is all about.”
If students have questions they can visit the iLab in Building 98C, room 6-06.
4/18/2019 5:28 p.m.: A previous version of this story credited the photo to Michelle Quintero. The photo was taken by Dipali Patel.