Weekend Pick: NoVa Mini Maker Faire

Young artists, inventors and other innovators will show what they can do at this weekend’s NoVa Mini Maker Faire. 

More than 100 presenters will be at the event, organized by Reston’s Nova Labs, Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at South Lakes High School and Langston Hughes Middle School.

Here is what you need to know:

Makers will share their knowledge through hands-on projects for adults and kids on topics from blacksmithing and primitive skills to 3D printing, drones and robots to building customized equipment for special needs children to creative art-making.

Makers will be grouped in neighborhoods by their topic. Neighborhoods include: Young Makers, Creativity Lane, Drone Zone, Robotics, 3D Printing Village, Science Lab, Flight Path, Sustainability Village, and more.

A complete list of makers can be found on the event’s website.

There will also be five hands-on activities: Nerdy Derby; Catapults and Ballistas; KEVA Planks;  GEMS Take Apart Zone; and Demo-Vation with UpCycle Creative Reuse Center.

Nerdy Derby is a no-rules miniature car building and racing competition. In the Catapults and Ballistas, you can explore trajectory, torsion, torque, force, and materials using safe tools. KEVA Planks are small building blocks to use to build and explore; In the GEMS Take Apart Zone, you can disassemble machines to explore how things work. Demo-Vation with UpCycle Creative Reuse Center you can create something new out of discarded elements.

There will be eight speakers including: Dr. Lance Bush, CEO of The Challenger Center for Space Science Education; Jennifer Gluck who creates DIY adaptive equipment for special needs children; Vicky Somma, winner 2014 White House 3D Printed Design Challenge; and Chris Vo, Chief Scientist at Sentien Robotics and President of DC Area Drone User Group. 

The Faire has a mobile website with a map, schedule, listing of makers, speaker schedule and other information.

Food will be available for sale on site by area food trucks. Among them: Doug the Food Dude, Fava Pot, Hardy BBQ, Mama’s Donut Bites and Tasty Kabob.

Advance tickets are available online. Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for children through March 14, 2015. Tickets at the door are $20 for adults and $8 for children. 

Photo of 2014 Mini Maker Faire/Credit: Frank Sogandares