Milwaukee Tool Donates Equipment to TechSpark

Milwaukee Tool has generously donated $15,000 worth of equipment to the College of Engineering’s TechSpark makerspace. This donation includes hundreds of hand tools, which are foundational elements for students using TechSpark to turn ideas into reality.  

As the cornerstone for the College of Engineering’s maker ecosystem, TechSpark provides the resources for designing, prototyping, and testing new technologies. All members of Carnegie Mellon University are welcomed to utilize TechSpark for courses, research, clubs, and entrepreneurship.

Donations, like this one from Milwaukee Tool, allow Carnegie Mellon students to gain a hands-on education. Students now have tape measures, screwdrivers, wrenches, and hundreds of other Milwaukee Tool pieces of equipment.  

“TechSpark received several Milwaukee Tools storage chests, along with the hand tools to completely fill them,” says Diana Haidar, Assistant Teaching Professor and Educational Director of TechSpark.

Everything from metal racecar parts for student clubs, to plastic prosthetic limbs for outreach events, are fabricated as separate parts, Haidar says, and these separate parts need to be assembled with hand tools. So, while seemingly simple, using hand tools plays a major role in developing a student’s skillset. 

“A lot of engineering schools see the importance of applying theory to practice for gaining real-world experience,” she says. “We always aim to improve students’ experiences, and this is one way we can do so.” 

The College of Engineering opened TechSpark in the spring of 2018, after consolidating separate departmental workshops into a unified workspace throughout 2017.  Now housed in Hamerschlag Hall, TechSpark offers resources, including 3D printers, laser cutting machines, soldering stations, and more are open to the entire campus, which Haidar says is rare. The result is a unique, diverse environment. 

“You can’t find this on many other campuses,” she says. “This isn’t just for a single department or a single college—in fact, TechSpark is driven to serve as a conduit for partnering the College of Engineering with the rest of the university.”