Innovation Hub Hosts Young Makers Camp
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The Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub hosted its first Young Makers Camp last week, and we're guessing that camp director Joel Gordon of the Hub's Launch Pad maker space probably had as much fun as the kids.
Here's coverage from the Arkansas Times.
A sample:
Gordon said that over the past few years, people have fallen into an “internet mindset,” especially as Apple, Android and the app market have boomed. According to the online statistics database Statista, there were a cumulative 10 million app downloads from the app store in July, 2008, compared to 75 billion in June, 2014. But he said now we’re entering an era wherein people want to use their smartphones to control physical objects.
“That’s the future, man,” he said. “We’re out of the internet, and we’re coming into physical things ... We’re in 1957. That’s when all the cool cars came out. That’s when everybody started getting appliances. Dishwashers. Washing machines. We’ve got 3D printers and laser cutters. These are things that manufacturers have been using for a while, but now it’s becoming ubiquitous. You’re starting to see people with 3D printers in their homes.”
Great stuff.
The Hub started what seems like a tidal wave of startup/tech/entrepreneurial activity in central Arkansas. We can't wait to see how it all -- the Hub, the AVC, the ARK Challenge and tech park -- blossoms over the next couple of years.