What?
The Jacquard Loom was the first computer — get your hands involved in the original binary system and learn to weave!

In this class we will set up a 4-shaft floor loom and collectively turn our old clothes into a rag rug to be raffled off to students in the class. Simultaneously, each student will work on their own weaving project using a laser cut lap loom. We will explore a few basic patterns, play with color and materials and explore this fundamental textile process together.

When?
From Jan 22 to 26 — 10am–2:30pm, with a 30–45-min lunch break

Where?
N52, Textile room

Who?
Jess Osserman

Lottery Application

What?
Students will be taken through the entire process of making a patchwork quilt: from the design stage of choosing a pattern and a palette of fabrics, through cutting, piecing, basting and quilting, making meaningful choices relating to technique throughout and seeing how those choices affect their overall product (which will be a large throw-size quilt, completed on the final day of the workshop). Combining visual art and tactile handiwork, quilting is both an art and a craft, with a rich cultural and historical heritage—throughout the workshop, students will be exposed to many different examples of quilting technique from multiple eras and cultures, and encouraged to continue developing their skill as part of an ongoing practice of slow, mindful handcrafting.

When?
Jan 8 / 12 / 16 / 19 / 22 / 26 / 29, and Feb 2 — 4:30–6:30pm

Where?
Metropolis Makerspace, 6C-006b

Who?
Jane Halpern

MORE INFO

What?
Come make your own personalized shop apron. Whether you're machining steel, mixing chemicals, or working on a new baking recipe, keep your clothes clean and create in style. Students will be able to make an apron sized exactly to them, with pockets and loops designed specifically to hold their favorite tools. Aprons will be made from waxed canvas, a traditional waterproof material used by explorers and sailors for hundreds of years. Students will learn the basics of cutting and sewing a pattern, as well as how to add reinforcing rivets and buckles to a softgoods project.

When?
Jan 9-10, Jan 16-17, and Jan 22–23 — 2–5pm

Where?
N52

Who?
Chris Haynes

Register

What?
A design portfolio is essential for students, prospective interns, and graduate school applicants to showcase academic design work to both prospective graduate school programs and future employers. Design portfolios have the potential to describe the way students think, relate their previous exposure to industry, and communicate a student’s worldview.

Our proposed Design Portfolio Workshop will be open to both undergraduate and graduate students. Acceptance into the workshop will require a body of design work, a collection of documented or documentable design projects, from all design-related classes or activities completed at MIT. Collected and documented design work will be utilized in the process of conceptualizing and assembling a design portfolio.

WEEK 1: BUILDING THE PAGE
Week one will have two primary goals: 1) Help students acquire skills needed to conceive and produce a complex graphic design project; 2) Help students ask, and answer fundamental questions: What can a book be? How do individuals curate essays in an edited volume or journal? What are the connections between text and image authorship in publications?

WEEK 2: BUILDING THE PORTFOLIO
Week two will focus on the question: What can a portfolio be? How can the practice of book making apply to the design of a portfolio to communicate complexity of thought and practice?

Students have the choice to participate in Part 1, Part 2, or Parts 1 and 2. Software: InDesign

When?
Week 1: Jan 23–26 — 12–4pm
Week 2: Jan 29–Feb 1 — 12–4pm

Where?
Room 3-415

Who?
Miko McGinty

Email Paul Pettigrew for information

What?
Staff will be available both in person and via Zoom to answer questions regarding common portfolio production and hosting tools (Adobe Portfolio, Cargo, GitHub Pages)

When?
Jan 9 / 16 / 23 / 30 — 2pm–4pm

Where?
35-238 and Zoom

Who?
Chris Murphy

Drop In

What?
In this 2-hour course, students will learn best practices on capturing great photography with their smartphones or cameras for later use in their MIT portfolios. Adobe Photoshop will be introduced for post-processing stills.

Required
—A smartphone with a camera or a DSLR/point and shoot camera
—A laptop with Adobe Photoshop installed, available for free from MIT IS&T

When?
Jan 17 — 10am–12pm

Where?
Room 4-231

Who?
Conor McArdle, Video and Digital Content Specialist

Register

What?
Learn to weld!

When?
January

Where?
Metropolis Makerspace

Who?
Seth Avecilla

Registration coming soon

What?
There are many people who want to make things, but struggle to go from making small trinkets to larger scale projects that look finished, especially when those projects aim to integrate multiple components or processes. Class instructor Cat Arase intends to teach Illustrator, the plasma cutter, the spot welder, and glass cutting. Everyone will create their own design and their own lamp using sheet metal and stained glass sheets. The class is free and all materials will be purchased beforehand.

8 students will be able to participate in either of two sessions taking place in the same week, which will last one week of IAP. Last year, a similar class was overenrolled, so participants must be able to attend every day of the class. Extra work outside of class hours may be needed for the design portion of the class, depending on design complexity.

No experience is required. Beginners are highly encouraged! This class is not for credit and there will be no grading.

Applicants must enter a lottery by end of day 12/20/23. The class list is expected to be finalized by 12/22/23. Everyone will receive an email indicating the status of their application. Applying to the lottery does not guarantee a spot.

Note: Cat ran the MIG welded lamp class and LED sign class last IAP. This class is a similar format and aims to teach similar skills.

When?
January 15-21
Session 1: Mon–Fri 5-7pm / Sat & Sun 10am–3pm
Session 2: Mon–Fri 7-9pm / Sat & Sun 10am–3pm

Where?
Metropolis Makerspace, Hotwork 6C-006c

Who?
Cat Arase

Lottery application

What?
Learn how to safely use a table saw and leave with a small box of your own design.

When?
Jan 9–10 / 3-hour sessions

Where?
Metropolis Makerspace

Who?
Jess Osserman

Lottery Application

What?
Learn about introductory methods of bookbinding in this 2-day workshop! In this course, we will learn how to make books using both Japanese stab binding and long stitch techniques, as well as get a general overview of common bookmaking practices. At the end of this, you will walk away with at least 2 books handmade by you! No previous bookbinding experience is needed, and all supplies will be provided. Space is limited and registration is required.

When?
Jan 23 / 25 / 1–4pm

Where?
Metropolis Makerspace, 6c-006b

Who?
Katherine Gilbreath

Registration coming soon

What?
Who doesn’t love colorful blinking lights? In this 2 session workshop we will look at how Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) work, how to connect and power them, and a variety of ways to control and animate them. Whether you’re looking for a simple indicator light or an art display with 100s of LEDs, this workshop will get you started. Students will be introduced to microcontrollers and CircuitPython, but no prior electronics or programming experience is required.

When?
Jan 17 / 24 / 1–4pm

Where?
35-308

Who?
Chris Murphy

Register

What?
In this 2-session course, learn the basics of the Internet of Things (IoT) and build an Internet-enabled temperature and humidity sensor with a web dashboard. No prior programming or electronics experience is required.

The course will cover the following:

· Basics of IoT: what it is, how is it used, and security and privacy concerns.

· Using Adafruit IO: Adafruit IO is a platform for IoT projects used to communicate, store data, and display dashboards.

· An Introduction to CircuitPython: CircuitPython is a version of the popular Python programming language designed for use on microcontrollers.

· An Introduction to Microcontrollers and I2C: The course will be using an Adafruit Feather microcontroller and a sensor connected via the Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) protocol, enabling fast solder-free prototyping.

When?
Jan 18 / 25 / 1–4pm

Where?
35-308

Who?
Chris Murphy

Register

What?

Building Complex Curvature from Flat Sheets

Join us to help build a large aluminum sculpture. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to construct surfaces with complex curvature from flat materials like paper, wood, or metal. Normally, flat sheets can only bend in one direction making so called “developable” surfaces with zero Gaussian curvature. We will use custom computational design tools to contort these materials into highly curved surfaces without any forming or creasing. Over the course of the week we will learn how these tools work, design some demo parts, and then as a group construct a large sculpture using these techniques. The sculpture will be constructed from dozens of laser cut panels connected by rivets which we will be cutting, finishing, assembling, and then installing on campus.

Takeaways:

• What is curvature and how does it apply to materials?
• Laser cutting metal
• How to use a rivet gun
• Help make a big sculpture!

Nervous System is a generative design studio that works at the intersection of science, art, and technology. Drawing inspiration from natural phenomena, we create computer simulations to generate designs and use digital fabrication to realize products.

Co-founders Jessica Rosenkrantz and Jesse Louis-Rosenberg will spend a week at MIT MAD to lead student activities over IAP.

When?
Jan 22–26 — 1–4pm

Where?
N52, Courtyard room

Who?
Jessica Rosenkrantz & Jesse Louis-Rosenberg

What?
We will present a problem framing methodology based on the MITdesignX venture design curriculum. The process employs brainstorming, observations, data collection and design tools to both identify and frame a problem, and then design a viable and feasible solution.

We will be dealing with one particular subject—climate—but will require students to address a specific problem or opportunity that they could actually solve.

The goal of the workshop is twofold. Firstly, we want participants to learn how to properly define the issue, context, and scope of a problem in order to embark on viable and need-driven solutions.Secondly, we want participants to address climate-related challenges with new design-driven innovation.

The participants will work in teams over 3 days, building their ideas together.

When?
Jan 23–25 — 4–7pm

Where?
N52, Garage

Who?
Svafa Grönfeldt & Gilad Rosenzweig

Register

What?
4.s21 / Credits: 1-0-0 U
Each day we wake up at the foothills of a new mountain of air, with a stream running above.

Use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to study watersheds, then HYSPLIT (from NOAA’s Air Resources Lab) to analyze structures in the air and visualize our web of ecological impacts.

Engage with fluid models, as well as forecast and climate data to understand the relation of mass and circulation in the atmosphere.

We will produce our own Atlas of Geographical Wonders.

Preference given to BSA, BSAD.

When?
Jan. 16-25: TR 1-4

Where?
7-238
Meet in the GIS lab of Rotch Library (first meeting) and Fluids Lab of Building 54.

Who?
Bill McKenna

Pre-register through WebSIS