Summit sings praises of makers

ROGERS — Nurturing the ancient human drives to create and explore can improve Arkansas’ economy and transform schooling for every age, educators and other experts said Monday.

The state’s second Makers Summit, organized by the Scott Family Amazeum and other local groups, drew hundreds of entrepreneurs, tinkerers and educators from the elementary to university level to learn how to encourage making and testing tools

and ideas. The summit was part of the multiday Northwest Arkansas Technology Summit at the John Q. Hammons Center that included the Women in Technology Conference on Monday and concludes today.

The concepts of makers and maker spaces often apply to would-be inventors looking to prototype, test and refine crafts and products. The Greater Bentonville Chamber of Commerce and The Innovation Hub in central Arkansas helped organize the event, which was meant partly to showcase the maker resources popping up in Northwest Arkansas.

Fayetteville’s Chamber of Commerce opened a fabrication lab last year with equipment for classes and the general public, for example. Northwest Arkansas Community College hopes to add its own lab, career and workforce education, vice president Tim Cornelius told the summit. Multiple school districts work with the college, Northwest Technical Institute and business owners to provide hands-on experience for what can be well-paying careers such as welders and electricians.

But attendees agreed making and sharing ideas is useful throughout life and in essentially any context.

NWA Democrat-Gazette/CHARLIE KAIJO Rhonda Childress of Austin, Texas, and Josh Clark of Dallas look at a 3D printer Monday during the Women in Technology Conference at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers. The conference was part of the Northwest Arkansas Tech Council’s multiday...