The Wayne State community is invited to develop, design, dream and discover in The Tech Bunker and Vault, two new technologically rich immersive learning spaces at the David Adamany Undergraduate Library. These hands-on creative spaces will kick off the school year with an open house from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sept. 18.
“These are spaces where anyone can come and be creative,” said Damecia Donahue, librarian and coordinator of the Tech Bunker and Vault. “We’re providing some of the things they may not have access to otherwise.”
Open to the entire Wayne State community, users can experiment with virtual reality using Oculus Rift and Oculus Go, Leap Motion gesture computing, Makerbot 3D printing, Alienware Auroras, Raspberry Pis, Ardionos, and more. In addition to providing access and assistance to the hardware and software, The Tech Bunker and Vault hold regular educational and recreational events, such as workshops on the open-source statistical software “R,” photogrammetry, artificial neural networks and, on the lighter side, video game competitions for the hit game Beat Saber.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Donahue. “It’s amazing how much you can learn just through playing.”
As libraries evolve to meet the changing needs of their users, they find themselves key players in community growth and development — exactly what this makerspace sets out to do. While the space is open to the entire campus, the off-campus community is also invited to take part in the offerings at the Bunker. Because immersive learning spaces also foster entrepreneurship and are being used as incubators and accelerators for business startups, the Bunker provides a perfect space to inspire community growth.
“We hope to create a learning environment and gathering space that encourages interdisciplinary experimentation and discovery,” said Donahue. “We’d love to see students from different schools and colleges come together and even work with community members to dream something big!”
The Bunker and Vault are located on the second floor of the David Adamany Undergraduate Library in the back of the Collaboration Commons, in rooms 2545 and 2543 by the Microsoft Surface Hub. Regular fall hours will Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. For more information visit guides.lib.wayne.edu/techbunker.