The Makerspace Mini Grants are available to current University of Puget Sound students.  The funds provide them the opportunity to cover the costs of using the 3D printer or Laser Cutter in the Makerspace, purchase materials and supplies for a project or entrepreneurial endeavor, or to cover the cost of an educational opportunity (workshop) associated with the project.

Mini grant funds can also be used to cover costs associated with using the Makerspace that may otherwise be financially prohibitive.

The project or activity can be related to a class or club or a personal project.

Applicants will need to fill out and submit the Makerspace Mini Grant Application Form

Makerspace staff will contact the applicant via email with any questions.

Once funds* (up to $50.00) have been granted to the applicant, Makerspace staff will work with the recipients to purchase requested items.  
*Funds must be used during current academic year.

Recipients will submit a brief write-up of how the funds were used and provide a written and/or visual report of the item(s) created or work produced.  The write-up will be provided via the Makerspace Mini Grant Report Form.

A great example of how a mini-grant may assist in an entrepreneurial endeavor is how a student used the 3D printer to create pronoun earrings and start a small business.  Their story is as follows.

It all begin when they wanted a pronoun pin. Rather than purchasing a premade pin, they thought, “why not make one myself?” Their first prototype was made by melting plastic and using a sharpie pen to write their pronoun. While the result was ok, it was not as refined as they wanted. On their way to Tech Services one day, they saw the Makerspace and wondered about how they might use the equipment to perfect their idea. They had familiarity with what 3D printing could do so they used their initiative to learn TinkerCad, an easy-to-use 3D CAD design tool that can turn your idea into a CAD model for a 3D printer. They started experimenting with writing words and landed on the idea to print gender pronouns and turn them into earrings. The rest, as they say, is history! They posted the earrings on Instagram and, before they could print more, received orders. They operate on the principle of asking customers to name their price which can range anywhere from $5 to $20 - not a bad profit margin as a single earring costs about 50 cents to make!

Please send all inquiries to makerspace@pugetsound.edu