Maven Makers |

Welcome

What is a Maven?

Gathering the name from a book by Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point, a maven is someone who is an expert in a particular field and is willing to give out that knowledge and experience freely. They are information brokers distributing their craft and skill knowing it will better the community around them and in turn help them as well.

What is a Makerspace?

Imagine a gym. People go to a gym to use equipment that would be too expensive to buy on their own and to have access to training on how to use that equipment. Now imagine a place where you can have access to wood working, metal fabrication, 3D printing, laser cutting, CNC, digital fabrication labs. Yeah! That would be fantastic! That’s what we are making. A Makerspace.

Founders

The founders of Maven Makers are Tim Cone and Ty Donaldson. With backgrounds in education, industrial design, engineering, robotics, project management, shop management, and curriculum development, their widely varied skill sets guide the development and execution of Maven Makers with both a technical and creative approach.

Tim Cone

Co-Founder

Tim graduated from UGA in the fall of 2009 with a BS in Engineering Education and has spent the last 5 years at Woodville Tompkins Technical and Career High School teaching Manufacturing, Robotics, and Engineering in Savannah, GA. Since taking over the program Tim has tripled the size of the program and added a local TSA chapter and VEX robotics team to the mix. His involvement at the local and state level quickly took notice and he was award the new teacher of the year award by Georgia Affiliate for Engineering and Technology Education (GAeTE) in July 2011. In 2012 he achieved the highest standards possible for a technology education program and gained a nationally recognized program certification through ITEEA and the GADOE. He served as President of the Board of Directors for The Georgia Technology Student Association (GATSA) in 2013 and was elected as a Top Four Finalist for the Savannah Chatham District Teacher of the Year in 2014. The icing on the cake came in March 2014 when Woodville Tompkins was recognized as one of the top 30 engineering and technology programs in the world by The International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA).

Ty Donaldson

Co-Founder

Ty graduated from SCAD in the fall of 2010 with a BFA in Industrial Design. He then worked at Calphalon (a Newell-Rubbermaid company) as an industrial designer where he brought two products to market and aided nearly 100 SKUs through ideation in just 9 months. He spent the next year and a half with Closet & Cabinet Experts where he led roles as a manufacturing engineer for residential closet manufacturing and installing as well as commercial production manager, dealing with workflow efficiency and project management from manufacturing all the way through the installment of commercial mill-work packages. Ty is currently the owner and designer of a design business called Welm. Design. He also works at SCAD as a Digital Lab Technician in the Industrial Design & Furniture Building for Design as well as the SCADlab. In this role he performs daily management of the Rapid Prototyping services which consist of 3D Printing, Laser Cutting, and Large Format Printing as well as new employee training.

Our services

Education

Weekend Warrior

Whether it’s your basic Weekend Project to building an ark of your own, we’ll give you the support you need every step of the way.

Students & Alums

Students if you are tired of cramped shops and are looking for a place to hone your skills outside of the classroom look no farther. Alums and professionals also have the benefit to use the equipment they’d grown accustomed to having without the overhead of owning it themselves.

Curious Creatives

Looking to tackle that do it yourself project, but don’t know where to start? Our workshops and certifications guarantee to give you the skills you desire. What’s better is our network of Mavens and Artisans on site are committed to enriching your making experience, answering questions and extending a guiding hand wherever needed.