Faculty Request Procedures and Expectations  

Makerspace Staff prioritize and schedule orientations and safety trainings for course use in coordination with Faculty. Makerspace Staff offer sign-up based trainings each week, however these trainings are not meant to accommodate entire classes. Course-related trainings and workshops should be coordinated with us using the following guidelines. 

We ask that you reserve space close to the fabrication-specific project module in your course. This will ensure that students have applicable processes to practice soon after the orientations to build up their proficiencies.  

Requesting Makerspace Course Integration:  

  • Planning begins one month prior to the upcoming semester (i.e. December for the Spring, August for the Fall). A survey to all faculty will be shared by the Director of Makerspaces (forthcoming).  
  • Syllabi must be shared in order to make a reservation for a class. These will be reviewed to gain more information about your fabrication-specific module. 
  • Reservations for trainings, orientations and any study equipment use must be made a minimum of two weeks in advance. This timeframe is based on our Staff’s availability and to be considerate of student reservations. 
  • A Makerspace Orientation is required for students to work in the makerspaces. If courses require tool/equipment training, we will aim to integrate the orientation into that training. 
  • Trainings are required for students to use the makerspace equipment. 
  • Trainings are offered through class reservations. Trainings and equipment/studio use are scheduled and coordinated as full-class sessions that occur during class hours. Day-of requests are not allowed.  
  • Faculty are required to be present for all course-specific trainings and/or shop reservations during class time. 
  • Faculty are responsible for ensuring their class cleans up workspaces after a training, or before the end of their reservation time. 
  • Across all our spaces, we are moving to a self-service model. Makerspace staff won’t produce student or class work. Instead, we aim to train your students to safely operate the equipment themselves. These policies may represent a shift in how our shops and studios have been used in the past. We appreciate your understanding during this transition and are happy to clarify and answer any questions you have.  

Course Materials: 

  • The Makerspaces strive to break down barriers of entry for students. Thus, we do stock a range of materials for course-related uses while students make use of the Makerspace studios. Faculty should share project parameters, enrollment and other details in the planning process so that we can ensure sufficient materials for your class. We will often offer suggestions for optimizing material use or reducing project scope. If materials need to be ordered that exceed our regular supply, the lead time for purchasing and delivery of any new material request is typically 3 weeks. We don’t stock consumable for class projects that do no use the Makerspace studios or equipment. Out of the ordinary, class-specific consumables will need to be purchased with course-specific funds.  

Current Available Trainings & Durations: 

  • Makerspace Shop AAC 175 Building C 
    • Safety Orientation (Introduction, Policies, Tour, Resources): 30 minutes 
    • Laser Cutting : 60 minutes 
    • 3D printing : 45 minutes 
    • Sewing machine : 60-90 minutes 
    • Vinyl cutting : 30 minutes 
    • Soldering : 30 minutes 
    • CNC Basics (coming spring 2026): 2 hours 
  • Woodshop AAC 101 Building D 
    • Safety Orientation (Introduction, Policies, Tour, Resources): 30 minutes 
    • Wood Shop Tool Training 2 (Optional) (Tablesaw, Planer, Router, Oscillating Sander): 2 Hours — 5 students max 
    • Wood Shop Tool Training 1 (Drilling, Basic Sawing, Sanding, Adhesives): 1.5-2 Hours — 5 students max 
  • Metalshop AAC 103 Building D 
    • A maximum of 2-3 users may operate in the space at a time.  
    • Safety Orientation (Introduction, Policies, Tour, Resources): 30 minutes 
    • Metal Shop Tool Training 2 (Optional – MIG) 2 students max 
    • Metal Shop Tool Training 1(hand tools, chop saw, sanding) 2 students max 
  • Ceramics AAC 179 Building C 
    • Schedule for Workshops…  
    • In Fall 2025 Ceramics is prioritizing… 
  • Analog Print Lab AAC 165 Building E 
    • Safety Orientation: 30 minutes 
    • Letterpress 3 hours 
    • Foil Stamping 30 mins 
    • Paper marbling 1 hour 
    • Etching Press 1.5 hours 
    • Hand Printing 1 hour 
    • Linoleum Carving 30 mins 
    • Paper Cutting Machines 30 mins 
  • Print Media Building AAC Building F 
    • Safety Orientation: 30 minutes 
    • File Prep for Riso Printing 30 mins 
    • Riso Duplicator  1.5 hours 
    • Dry Mount  30 mins 
    • Polymer Plate Maker  2 hours 
    • Solar Dye Printing  1 hour 
    • Computer lab (Mac and PC) 
    • 35mm camera operation 30 minutes 
    • Large format inkjet printing: 30 minutes 
    • Black and White Darkroom Printing:  
    • Film scanning 10 minutes 
    • DSLR operation 30 minutes 
    • Print scanning 30 minutes 
    • Editing using Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop 1 hour 
    • Silkscreen 2 hours 

Web Checkout Policy:  

  • This is where Electronic rentals and utility kits are available for short-term checkout, usually for a day or two though each category has its own time allowance.  
  • Users who do not return their equipment in a timely manner, may be barred from checking out equipment in the future. There is a feature to renew the return time through Web Checkout if needed.   
  • Dropp offs and pick ups from the check out area are only allowed a half hour after building F opens until a half hour before building F closes.  
  • Web Checkout is an online platform that allows makerspace users to request and reserve rental equipment located in Building F in the check out area. Anyone checking out equipment will need to create an online user account. And all checkouts will be processed through this system.  
  • Equipment located for check out includes but is not limited to video and picture cameras, tripods, lighting set ups, film cameras, cutting kits, and glue gun kits.  

No-Show Policy: 

  • To ensure attendance, calendar invites and confirmation emails will be sent to guarantee your course’s lab reservation for orientations, trainings and/or studio use. 
  • We prepare well for each orientation for you and your class. If you do not show up with your course during the allotted time without advance notice, we reserve the right to cancel the forthcoming training reservations for your course.  
  • If you need to cancel or reschedule your orientations, trainings and/or studio use, please contact us at least 48 hours in advance. We will attempt to reschedule as soon as possible, however this process may be up to 2 weeks from the date of cancellation. 
  • Occasionally our Makerspace staff may be out sick with little notice. We will do our best to find a replacement. For specialized trainings this may not be possible. 

Scheduling your class in the Makerspace Classroom: 

  • Please contact Director of Makerspaces, Suzanne Schmidt at su.schmidt@northeastern.edu