Please join me in wishing good luck and safe travels to @Rhett. Today was his last day in the shop before graduating MSU with a degree in mechanical engineering. He’s one of our early volunteers, and has been a great asset to LMN.
He looked us up when he first got to town, and I remember giving him a tour at our old place on St. Joseph Highway. That was before we began the volunteer program or open hours membership, and with a lack of transportation, it wasn’t practical for him to join. But he was persistent, and came back about a year later, when the volunteer program was getting started and had a car.
When he wasn’t helping to keep things running, he was making good use of the place to work on his school projects – welding, machining, 3D printing, and more. I like to think LMN gave him an edge. He’ll soon be moving to the Boston area to start working at FormLabs, a big-name 3D printer maker.
I was going to do a “Farewell and Thank You LMN” post but it looks like Carl beat me to it!
I want to give a shoutout to the truly amazing makerspace that LMN is. In my mind, the single most important part of a makerspace is the community of members and volunteers that form around it. An extensive woodshop, 8? anvil blacksmith area, and well-equipped jewelry station are incredible assets, but without a group of instructors, volunteers, and curious makers the equipment would remain unapproachable to most folks.
LMN has built and continues to grow (at an impressive rate!) an incredible and inspiring community. In the 2-ish years (hard to figure exactly with covid in the middle) that I have been a part of LMN, I have met so many other folks who share not only a passion for “making projects” but also for making LMN be the best it can be. I have several fun memories of interactions with LMN members while working on projects at the space- be it an underpowered magnetic drill press, a flawed automatic fence builder, or a scary-looking toilet assist. I could always count on someone to wander by with friendly curiosity, helpful advice, or a willingness to share a laugh with me about whatever crazy contraption I had put together.
You all are the reason that LMN is awesome! Keep it up and thanks for all the good times!
-Rhett
P.S.- I will keep this forum account if anyone ever wants to get in touch.
Congratulations, @Rhett on your graduation and on your new career!
It has been great knowing you and working with you on projects at LMN. I am glad that I got a chance to help in the evaluation of one of your latest engineering projects, but I will have to admit that while it was uplifting, at the same time it scared the crap out of me.
While we are sad to see you move on, we feel fortunate to have known you and have no doubt that you will find success in the years to come.
Best of Luck to you and please keep in touch.