Blog: Events

Organising the UCL Repair Café: hope, confidence and friendship

24-2-22

Organising the UCL Repair Café: hope, confidence and friendship

The following blog shares the reflections of some of the organisers and volunteers of the UCL Repair Cafe on February 2022, and shares lessons learnt for those who might want to set up or take part in their own repair café. On a windy, gazabo wobbling Thursday, a small group of dedicated volunteers gathered, aiming to grow, re-purpose and repair. More

Exploring Materials and Sensory Preference in Prosthetic Limbs

03-10-18

Exploring Materials and Sensory Preference in Prosthetic Limbs

Want to be involved in a study exploring how the sensory and aesthetic properties of materials affects experiences of prosthetic limbs? Read on! More

Hands of X @ Cubitts Kings X

20-6-17

Hands of X @ Cubitts Kings X

The Hands of X team are presenting a prototype of their exciting bespoke prosthetics service at Cubitts Kings Cross this Thursday and Friday. More

Competition results of the Cutlery Design Challenge

13-9-16

Competition results of the Cutlery Design Challenge

We teamed up with the Worshipful Company of Cutlers, to celebrate their 600th anniversary, and run a competition to design and make a new implement, tool or device for eating. An exhibition will showcase some of the extraordinary, thought-provoking and beautiful things that were submitted. More

Studio Visit to John Hagger

10-8-16

Studio Visit to John Hagger

This week I took a trip out of London to the picturesque countryside of Devon. My first stop was to see the very talented John Hagger of Tanner Bates, based in Dartington, Totnes. More

Studio Visit to Faye McNulty

04-4-16

Studio Visit to Faye McNulty

For my first meeting of the day I headed down to Bermondsey. Tucked away in a railway arch amongst car repair workshops and what looks like a conservatory company is Printall Studio where print designer Faye McNulty works. The studio is a fully-equipped, open access textile printing studio where members can either pay by the day or sign up for a monthly membership for more frequent access. More

Studio Visit to Geoffrey Fisher

14-12-15

Studio Visit to Geoffrey Fisher

Nestled on the first floor of an outbuilding surrounded by other makers is green woodworker Geoffrey Fisher. After a quick coffee at Geoff’s studio in High Wycombe, he got me straight to work, drilling a hole into the end of a branch in order to make a whistle. Little did I know that the whistle might come in handy later when we took a trip to the nearby Penn Woods. More

Next Public Open day: Clay & Ceramics on 24th October

06-10-15

Next Public Open day: Clay & Ceramics on 24th October

Join us for an extravaganza of materials and making around the theme of Clay & Ceramics. More

Festival of Stuff 2015

13-7-15

Festival of Stuff 2015

Our Festival of Stuff may be over for this year but we have been reliving it through an epic amount of photos that were taken. Can you spot yourself in any of them? More

Festival of Stuff
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19-5-15

Festival of Stuff

The Festival of Stuff runs from 23rd June to the 27th June, consisting of four days of bookable masterclasses and culminating in an extravaganza of materials and making on Saturday 27th June. More

Light Public Open day

06-5-15

Light Public Open day

Last Saturday we held an extravaganza of materials and making around the theme of light. Visitors explored how reflective things reflect, made their very own electrical circuit, took a photograph without using a camera and much more. More

Next public Open day: Metal 7th March

30-1-15

Next public Open day: Metal 7th March

This March we will be celebrating metal in all its diversity. Come along and explore metals that have memory, a jet engine turbine blade made from a single crystal, and the wondrous material life of gold in the Materials Library. More

Hidden Histories of Things - Mon 26th Jan

12-1-15

Hidden Histories of Things - Mon 26th Jan

Places available on the 'Hidden Histories of Things' research seminar, organised by the Open University's Commodity Histories project and the Institute of Making. Mon 26th Jan, 9.30am - 4.30pm. More

The Great Robot Egg Race

16-12-14

The Great Robot Egg Race

Back in October, during Robots Week, we launched The Great Robot Egg Race. The challenge was to build a moving robot that could pick up an egg and travel a short distance before putting it down in a frying pan, without smashing it! The robot needed to travel over a variety of different terrains/surfaces, straddle a cube, go under a limbo pole, negotiate a sideways slope and navigate a slalom course to finally deliver the fresh, un-smashed egg into the pan. More

Dates for your diaries
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08-12-14

Dates for your diaries

The nights are drawing in, it's getting colder and the Christmas festivities are underway. For those who came to the Festival of Stuff earlier this year here is a video to remind you of warmer times: youtube Below are some dates for your diaries of out next open days and next years Festival of Stuff. More

Public Open day: Carbon: 22nd November

18-10-14

Public Open day: Carbon: 22nd November

​This November, in partnership with the Crafts Council, the V&A and the RSA, we will be staging a London-wide extravaganza of materials and making, called Make:Shift:Do. As part of this, we will be hosting a public open day around the theme of Carbon and a selection of specialist masterclasses. This will be our last open day of 2014, so get it in your diaries now! More

Luted Crucible Bronze Casting

31-7-14

Luted Crucible Bronze Casting

Last week we were shown the elemental delights of hot metal casting with artist Piers Watson, who taught us an ancient technique called "Luted Crucible Bronze Casting”. More

Festival of Stuff

28-5-14

Festival of Stuff

From the 17th to the 21st of June we our having our first Festival of Stuff! Throughout the week there will be bookable masterclasses, workshops and Materials Library discovery sessions, culminating in an extravaganza of materials and making that will be open to all. More

Hat over Heels
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29-4-14

Hat over Heels

Before Easter we had the honour of holding the first Hat Over Heels event, a hat making day for women with cancer or alopecia who have undergone hair loss. More

Factory Tour: Closed Loop Recycling

01-4-14

Factory Tour: Closed Loop Recycling

Yesterday we trekked out to Dagenham Dock to visit the Closed Loop Recycling plant, which was thoroughly intriguing. Upon arriving we were greeted by Nick Cliffe, Marketing Manager and our tour guide for the trip. We began the tour with a short and very informative talk which led into a tour of conveyor-belt-central! More

Making Repairs Research Workshop

17-2-14

Making Repairs Research Workshop

Last week, a group of repair experts and enthusiasts from multiple disciplines gathered at the Institute of Making for a day-long workshop interrogating the materials and technologies that make repair possible, and the cultural imperatives that encourage it. More

sKINship
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22-1-14

sKINship

This week we invited sKINship along to the Institute of Making to lead a masterclasses on pattern cutting inspired by reconstructive surgery techniques. sKINship is a research program and professional network, bridging the gap between visual arts and science based practitioners led by Rhian Solomon and Juliana Sissons; creating a space in which to exchange knowledge and ideas, and explore the processes of 'Making' as a universal visual language. More

An olfactory experience with British Master Perfumer Roja Dove

02-12-13

An olfactory experience with British Master Perfumer Roja Dove

A couple of weeks ago we were thrilled to welcome British master perfumer Roja Dove for an evening of sensory delight. The audience was in for a treat, smelling some of the world's rarest and most prestigious perfumery materials. More

Darwin (or) Bust

28-11-13

Darwin (or) Bust

The new Darwin is here! More

UCLoo Festival Make-a-Thon

11-11-13

UCLoo Festival Make-a-Thon

Meet the Makers. Free event 19 Nov: come and hear three eco toilet designers discuss their design process and eco sanitation insights. More

Smell and the City with Victoria Henshaw

11-11-13

Smell and the City with Victoria Henshaw

Last Thursday, led by urban smell specialist Dr Victoria Henshaw from the University of Sheffield, we put our sense of smell to the test as we sniffed out metropolitan scents, whiffs and stinks. More

3D Manufacturing: Promises, Pitfalls and Potential

21-10-13

3D Manufacturing: Promises, Pitfalls and Potential

This workshop focused on the potential and pitfalls of the materials and technologies currently used in 3D printing. It brought together a mix of researchers from different disciplines that have been pushing the boundaries of 3D printing in terms of the materials, software, designs and uses for 3D printers. More

Trees Information Booklet

30-9-13

Trees Information Booklet

If you couldn't make the last public open day about Trees, fear not! We have uploaded an information document with lots of exciting tree related facts and links. More

Public Open day - September 28th: Trees

04-9-13

Public Open day - September 28th: Trees

Join us on Saturday the 28th of September for our final public open day for this year. From the the world's toughest rubber, chewing gum made from trees, maple syrup, and just so much more. More

Luminescence Public Open Day - May 25th

14-6-13

Luminescence Public Open Day - May 25th

Luminescence Public Open Day - May 25th Visitors were able to watch demonstrations by neon artists who were bending and filling neon tubes live in the space. They explored luminescent materials from the library, had a go with 'invisible' UV face paint and mouldable glow-in-the-dark polymorph plastic, and took away laser-etched test tubes filled with glow-in-the-dark liquid. It was one very busy, luminescence-filled day. More

Materials at the Centre

30-4-13

Materials at the Centre

Our first research workshop at UCL brought together researchers from across the arts and humanities, social and historical sciences and physical sciences to interrogate the relationship between academic research and materials and making. More

First Masterclass: Blacksmithing

26-4-13

First Masterclass: Blacksmithing

Ian Lowe and Richard Pace, blacksmiths from Stepney City Farm, set up their mobile forge for our very first Member Masterclass. More

The Grand Public Opening
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25-1-13

The Grand Public Opening

The Institute of Making invites you to explore our new MakeSpace and Materials Library at UCL on Saturday 16 March, between 1-5pm. More