Open to the Public: ‘Tinker Time” at Utah’s STEM Action Center

SOUTH SALT LAKE — Every Friday, dozens of people head to Utah’s STEM Action Center in South Salt Lake for a special event called Tinker Time.

Tami Goetz is the director of the STEM Action Center. She said Tinker Time started about a month ago, when three little girls began banging on the window outside the MakerSpace. The MakerSpace has a total of 2,000 square feet with a laser cut, 3D printers and sewing machines. It also includes a CNC milling machine, a heat-press, a sublimation printing device, a large format print, a mitersaw, a tablesaw, and other hand tools.

“They must have been maybe eight years old, nine, and they wouldn’t know what we were doing in here. Goetz remembers fondly letting them in and showing them around. “Those three girls came on a friday afternoon because it was an early release. Before you knew it, they had invited 10 other girls. And then the next thing you knew, from noon to eight, we had a full MakerSpace.”

Tinker Time became a reality. Tinker Time is available to the general public every Friday between noon and 8 p.m. In recent times, due to high demand, visitors must sign up in advance for 2-hour time slots.

During Tinker Time open to the public, staff, volunteers, and experts are on hand to guide participants through their projects.

Becca Robison, the Innovation Hub’s manager, is passionate about helping people work on anything they can dream up.

“Those are the moments I live for because it’s so great to see just the spark in their eyes, and that realization that they can do any of this,” Robison said. “Oh, anyone can do this, right?” And that’s what’s so cool about maker spaces — it really empowers regular people to create and to innovate and to be STEM people.”

“Utah is an innovative state, and so we’re really excited to see what happens when we put these tools in the hands of regular Utah citizens,” she said.

The STEM Action Center has more information available on its website.