2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Work-in-Progress: One of the primary benefits of a makerspace is the concentration of tools, materials, and expertise in one place [1]. Without makerspaces, design education in many low- to middle-income countries (LMIC) stops with a “paper” design and does not move onto a physical prototype. More than 75% of registered makerspaces are in North America and Europe [2], and less than 4% of registered makerspaces are in Africa [3].
As part of a joint project between Duke University (NC, USA) and Makerere University (Kampala, Uganda), “twin” makerspaces were built at the respective universities. At Makerere, this makerspace was a first at the university and has transformed engineering design practice. At Duke, the makerspace has supported resource-constrained design, a necessary component for producing products for LMIC markets.
At Makerere, the DesignCube is an engineering makerspace built from two shipping containers, which are abundant in East Africa. The DesignCube includes furniture (tables, chairs), tools (electrical, woodworking, sewing machine), and locally available materials (wood, metal, cardboard, plastics). The layout of the DesignCube allows for 20 students to comfortably prototype, collaborate, and learn. The space was inaugurated in June 2022 with a joint Duke-Makerere summer design internship. During the 2022-2023 academic year, Makerere biomedical engineering students are completing their design projects in the DesignCube.
Duke design teams in the first-year design course designed and constructed the Duke DesignCube, which has a fully furnished interior, with tables, tools, and materials. Note that the tools and materials placed at Duke mirror the ones in Makerere and do not include items such as laser cutters, 3D printers, etc. Additionally, the DesignCube has a system of solar panels and related battery storage. The Duke DesignCube uses only one container, so outdoor workspace around the container is used to accommodate 20 students. For four semesters, Duke student teams have prototyped in the DesignCube (rather than Duke’s large, well-furnished makerspace) on design projects with intended use in LMICs.
On the Duke side, early assessment focused on identifying which tools and materials the teams wanted for their project, but were unavailable in the DesignCube. These surveys identified many specific electrical components, which were available in the USA, but not in Uganda. Otherwise, students were able to work comfortably and produce prototypes at the low- and medium-fidelity levels, but not at the high-fidelity level. On the Makerere side, students also ran into limitations, especially when creating high-fidelity prototypes. Trips to the local markets supplemented the materials in the DesignCube. Surveys completed by Duke students during the summer design internship reveal their appreciation of the value of practical ingenuity and how unexpected materials can be used to create functional prototypes.

[1] Roslund, Samantha. Makerspaces. Minnesota: Cherry Lake Publishing, 2014.
[2] Lou, Nicole; Peek, Katie. “There Are 14 Times as Many Makerspaces as There Were a Decade Ago” Popular Science, February 23, 2016. https://www.popsci.com/rise-makerspace-by-numbers/
[3] “Fab Labs” Fab Foundation, Accessed February 20, 2020. https://www.fablabs.io/labs