From Making Spaces to Making Change: The Future of Making in ECE

In this paper, we discuss the results and key findings of a daylong 'Making and Makerspaces in Electrical and Computer Engineering' (ECE) workshop hosted in conjunction with the ECE Department Heads Association Annual Conference in 2022. This workshop brought together thought leaders in making and makerspaces from across ECE, engineering education, and the broader maker community to discuss the current state of (change)making in ECE, making with purpose, and anti-racist engineering spaces in addition to live maker activities at lunch and an unconference to discuss community, partnerships, and ECE in mechanical engineering makerspaces. Broadly, a key finding from the conference was the need to shift the conversation from talking about making spaces (which tend to focus more on the equipment and facilities management) to ecosystems of making change, including culture, identity, community partnerships, shifting from labs to makerspaces, and shifting from spaces to makerspaces. Another key finding was an ecosystem view of possible touchpoints for making in an engineering program, including making in pre-college, making for recruitment, making in undergraduate design classes, making in extracurricular settings, making for fun, and making at home - all leading toward growing a thriving, diverse engineering workforce of the future. The themes that emerged from the workshop discussions were summarized and presented to department heads about how makerspaces connect to broader efforts in the ECE community such as how to become more equitable and inclusive, how to rebrand programs to attract new students, and promote best practices in educating 21st century learners.