Starforge

Shortly after Michael got to Texas A&M, he found a fellow student who was really good at writing and getting money for projects.  He had gotten some money for designing a rocket engine.  Together, they decided that they needed to set up a non-profit makerspace.  They worked really hard to find funding, then to find a space, then to find equipment and to get the space so that it was useable for their purposes.  They had several generous grants that helped them to set it up, and just as his second semester at TAMU was starting, they were able to open up.  They found a space that was just a block off campus, right next to the engineering part of campus.  They had some things they had to work out when they first moved in- there was a problem with the floor and the electricity.  They had to figure out how to negotiate with the landlord to get those things fixed.  Later, they had to figure out how to get A/C in their space because it didn't have a functioning air conditioner.  

It was a great experience for him to learn all those things, but also he set it up with friends.  Anytime that he was at the makerspace- he basically was just hanging out with friends. It was a great setup for him, and he learned so many things!

He also had space so that he could build whatever he wanted.

Shortly after he got it up and running, the dean of engineering and Sue Smith and Craig Brown of the Brown Foundation visited Starforge and brought pizza.