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Blacksburg Hackerspace

This is a page for the planning of a hackerspace in Blacksburg. Everything has since been migrated to the Hacksburg wiki.

Contents

Name

The following names have been suggested for the hackerspace (feel free to add to this list!):

  • Hacksburg
  • Blacksburg Lab for Innovative Tinkering (BLIT)
  • Blacksburg Lab for Objects (BLOb)
  • Blacksburg Object Fabrication Hackerspace (BOFH)

Affiliation

Many interested parties have expressed interest in *not* being affiliated with Virginia Tech, as some planned activities may conflict with university policy. Many hackerspaces have become 501c3 non-profits, but this requires a significant amount of paperwork.

Potential Funding Sources

  • Member dues - Ideally, we would be able to pay all monthly infrastructure expenses without external support
  • Kickstarter - Potentially useful for raising startup funds
  • Student Engineers' Council - The SEC allocates a sizable budget, but accepting any VT funding may come with strings attached.
    • Correction: The Student Engineers' Council earns its money from the career fair and the funds are disbursed through its student leadership (with a faculty advisor). The only strings attached are spelled out in Articles X and XI in the Bylaws. Tapping into Virginia Tech student activities fee money is a different story, with different stipulations attached.
  • Corporate sponsorship

One idea proposed was to have the hackerspace unaffiliated with Virginia Tech and sell both individual and group memberships. A separate, SEC-funded RSO could then buy group memberships for its members and/or engineering students.

Desirable Infrastructure Features

  • Proximity to campus/Blacksburg Transit lines
  • Low cost
  • Fast (symmetric) internet connection, i.e. not NTC
  • High-power service panels (220V? 20A?)
  • Noise tolerance
  • Ventilation
  • Floor space
  • Kitchen? (Some hackerspaces have found this useful)

Links