About
Building, making, and educating in Southwestern Ontario.
Learn more about our team, our projects, and our services
About
Building, making, and educating in Southwestern Ontario.
Learn more about our team, our projects, and our services
Learn by doing
People learn best by doing. This simple belief informs everything we do. The MakerBus merges cutting edge technology, traditional crafts, and abstract art to create a learning experience like no other.
Where some see an electric toothbrush, we see a homemade robot who paints like Jackson Pollock. Our team of passionate educators work to create hands-on learning experiences that encourage our community to look at the world in new ways.
From 3D printing, to robotics, to art, to history, to digital literacy, we'll help you unleash your inner creative potential.
Classes and Events
Learn about our latest projects and community events
What is a MakerBus?
One part classroom. One part tech lab. All parts imaginative play space.
What is a MakerBus?
One part classroom. One part tech lab. All parts imaginative play space.
The MakerBus is a social enterprise dedicated to expanding access to technology and education.
we believe that everyone who loves to build, create, or tinker is a maker. Makers have an endless curiosity about the world and how it works, leading them to become explorers and creators.
We want to empower everyone in our community to become a maker. The MakerBus is a classroom on wheels. Using a converted school bus we can bring technology, resources, and a passion for learning anywhere in our community. From 3D printing, to upcycling, to podcasting, to sewing, we want to get Londoners excited about making the amazing things that live in their imaginations into reality.
"I like the MakerBus because I get to learn by doing stuff. It's really different from my normal classes."
- 8 year old maker-in-training
We work with community partners to deliver pop-up educational visits, teacher/librarian training, makerspace consultation, and one-of-a-kind events. Interested in learning more about the MakerBus? Send us an email, follow us on twitter, or like us on Facebook - connecting with amazing Londoners is the best part of our day.
Our team
What do a librarian, an archeologist, a medievalist, and an engineer have in common? A shared love of education, outreach, and old school buses.
Our team
What do a librarian, an archeologist, a medievalist, and an engineer have in common? A shared love of education, outreach, and old school buses.
The MakerBus is run by a volunteer team of experienced, passionate educators. With experience teaching in libraries, universities, and schools, our team blends maker technologies with clearly defined educational objectives.
Kim Martin - Co-Founder and Chief Instigator: Why is Kim the Chief Instigator of the MakerBus? Because she likes to make things happen. Never one to pass up on a good idea, Kim loves turning good ideas into realities. When not building 3D printers on her kitchen table, Kim is is a PhD candidate in Library and Information Science at the Western University. Her research interests include the use of Ebooks by Humanist Scholars, the role of serendipity in the research process, and the information habits of Digital Humanists.
Connect with Kim on twitter: @antimony27
Beth Compton - Co-Founder and Head of Play: One word to describe Beth - mischievous. Beth loves to experiment and play, embracing the world as artists only can. Her interests are art, education, and outreach. Beth is currently working on a PhD in archaeology exploring how people react to different forms of archaeological representation - plus she might even be spending part of summer in the arctic. MakerBus North anyone?
Connect with Beth on twitter - @Beth_Compton
Ryan Hunt - Co-Founder and Chief Fun Officer: Ryan gets bored easily, thankfully the MakerBus keeps him continually learning and trying new things. From learning how to airbrush the interior of the MakerBus to learning how to drive a school bus, Ryan enjoys being a jack-of-all-trades. In his day job Ryan is the Education Coordinator for the London Heritage Council, using his love of history and education to help Londoners celebrate their local heritage. Using his knowledge of the Ontario curriculum and gamification techniques, Ryan brings an education-oriented perspective to all of his projects.
Connect with Ryan on @Ryan__Hunt
James Graham - Chief Science Officer: James is a man of few words, but take it from the rest of the MakerBus team, he's awfully brilliant. James is a true tinkerer, always working on projects ranging from flying robots to tweeting telegraph machines. With a degree in mechanical engineering, James brings some much-needed science to the MakerBus's team of artists and humanists.
Connect with James on LinkedIn
In the news
Breaking news - the MakerBus is a classroom like no other.
See what people are saying about us.
In the news
Breaking news - the MakerBus is a classroom like no other.
See what people are saying about us.
We are thrilled that people in the community are just as excited about the MakerBus as we are.
Have a look at what blogs, newspapers, radio, and television are saying about the MakerBus - check out of archive of MakerBus stories in the press.
NEWSPAPERS
"London Students Make Big Splash With 'The Bus." - London Community News
"Want a New Way to Teach Tech in London? Get on the Bus" - London Community News
"MakerBus team hoping The Mythbusters get creative" - London Community News
"Campaign for Roving Digital Classroom Gaining Traction." - Metro News
"Breast cancer survivor turns tables on her illness and creates dress from medical supplies" - Metro News
"Western U students launch plan for tricked-out, teched-up bus" - Metro News
"Stretching Out Slime, Playing Tetris with a Carrot - and Learning?" - London Community News
"Awesome London Puts an Eye in the Sky." - London Community News
"A Day of Making in London." - London Community News
"Maker Bus Project Aims to Encourage People to Learn, Build and Create" -London Free Press
"MakerBus Invention Workshop Will be Live-Streamed" - London Free Press
"Wearable Tech Clothing and Fashion Show, as Museum London’s Third Thursday Program" - London Free Press
"Western students part of team turning school bus into tech lab" - London Free Press
"Weekend festival combines a wilderness getaway inside the city with music, art and fun" - London Free Press
"Universities Urged to Develop New Models of PhD Study" - The Globe and Mail
RADIO
"The MakerBus" - CBC Ontario Morning
TELEVISION
"What is the Maker Movement?" - CTV News
"Visit the MakerBus at the 2014 Western Fair" - RogersTV
"Take part in Museum London's Third Thursday" - RogersTV
BLOGS
"Maker Space for children in libraries and schools" - HiCube Blog
ACCESS Conference 2014 Keynote by Kim Martin - Kim Martin
"Congratulations to Our 2014 Winners!" - Resonant Solutions
"Celebrating Maker Culture at Museum London" - Forest City Fashionista
"London Community Project, the 'DH' MakerBus Gets Rolling" - Tech Alliance
"Mobile digital maker space "DHMakerBus" project start-up" - History and Digital
"Kickstarter Campaign for The Humanities Bus Tour Has Started" - 4Humanities
"Showing the Human Face of the Humanities: the Humanities Matter Web Series and Bus Tour" - Hybrid Pedagogy
"Creativity is on the Rise" - Literacy Link South Central
"The DH MakerBus" - The Librarian, the Wireless, and the Wardrobe
"MakerBus Magic" - Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities 2014 Blog
"Portable, Tacit, Temporary" - University of Victoria Makerlab Blog
"The Employability Question - Graduate Students and the Job Market" -Professor Aaron Mauro (Penn State)
"Why do the humanities matter, and what does that have to do with a bus?" -HASTAC