These 18 students were the first to use the UvA Makerspace – the new interdisciplinary technical workspace designed to foster collaboration and experimentation across multiple fields. Each team was challenged to design and build robots using bio-inspired components, with the goal of solving a practical problem. They’ve built robots that could drive, swim, or dive to rescue people from collapsed buildings, find leaks in water pipes, shovel snow, explore Mars, or assist scientists in research on invasive species.
This was the first test case of the UvA Makerspace, and we are pleased to see how such a flexible and technical workspace and the openly structured design challenges enabled students to translate their academic knowledge to practical solutions.
The UvA Makerspace was developed in preparation for the new interdisciplinary technical natural sciences bachelor program Science, Technology & Innovation, and will be used by students of this and other programmes in future projects.