Open for new makers

Housing, Kortepohja, Kylä magazine / 2.11.2022

Text: Mari Lähteenmäki | Pictures: Tiina Salminen

Hacklab Jyväskylä has a community workspace on the street level of the O building in the Kortepohja Student Village. Such workspaces are internationally described as makerspaces or hackerspaces. 

The lab has space and tools for building electronics and working with different materials. The impressive list includes for instance CNC mill, laser cutter, 3D printer, planer and soldering station. Of course, a sewing machine and a seamstress are also available. You can spend time playing games either on a traditional console or in a VR room. There is also equipment and a radio station ID for amateur radio operati

Easy to join community 

An easy way to get involved is to take part in Hacklab’s open clubs, which are typically attended by 5-15 people. There are regular club nights twice a week. Sampsa Kiiskinen, who is a member of Hacklab Jyväskylä’s board, says that he just happened to come to association’s meeting once and immediately became its secretary. 

“We have a great community here, good facilities and tools for various projects. It was easy to join.” 

Hacklab Jyväskylä ry is part of the network of Finnish hacklabs. In Jyväskylä they have organized the Instanssi festival of digital making together with Linkki Jyväskylä Ry, offered help and training for many kinds of making, and developed open-source software. The community has experts and enthusiasts from various fields, many of whom are students.  

Lots of opportunities 

Suvi Lahtinen came for a meeting for the first time when her function programming course instructor mentioned they would give tutoring on the course assignments at the Lab. Suvi highlights Hacklab’s role in promoting circular economy. With the available tools, you can, for example, straighten a bicycle rim. 

“It was very rewarding to be able to repair my bike myself.” Suvi has used surplus materials from the Lab in her projects. “For example, wood pieces of odd shapes can be used to make chopsticks.” 

Jarno Pasonen has implemented many projects at Hacklab, from a living room table to a wooden spoon. That and other projects of Hacklab members, for example Sampsa’s guitar restoration, are presented on the Hacklab Jyväskylä blog. Jarno is on Hacklab’s board and is responsible for the tools and general order of the club space. “Any decent person can come here, as long as they don’t start destroying places,” he summarizes the Hacklab’s philosophy of the maker’s living room. 

Hacklab Jyväskylä’s club nights on Tuesdays from 6pm to 9pm and Saturdays from 3pm to 6pm, Kortepohja Student Village, Emännäntie 10 O.