making@stanford

The act of creating physical artifacts — making things — plays a special role in human learning. By integrating thinking and doing, we deepen our intellectual connection to problems, and we catalyze our creativity.

About the making@stanford initiative

Stanford has always had a vibrant making culture. In fact, our founding grant specifically mentions mechanical training. Some of the most visible spaces — such as the Product Realization Lab, our flagship makerspace — sit in the School of Engineering. But Stanford offers dozens of making courses across five schools and 20 unique spaces for teaching the design and making process, overseen by more than 10 different departments.

However, currently only one in five Stanford undergraduate students experiences physical design and making in their academic program. We’re constrained by limited staff, materials, equipment, space and sharing resources.

We have a vision to give every Stanford student the opportunity to have a meaningful experience with making. We can realize this vision by supporting and expanding the critical people that mentor our student makers, by creating accessible making courses in more disciplines, and by sharing essential resources. See our current courses, spaces and projects.

“Something that’s really unique about Stanford is just how much interdisciplinary education happens among our undergraduate students. Our students explore. They try different things. And learning by making — learning by using your hands — is a unique way of accessing the material.”

Steve Collins, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering