One of the many partnerships that are happening as Open Works gets up and running will allow people who take classes at the massive Station North makerspace to receive college credit.
Community College of Baltimore County is set to offer 100-level Design, Fabrication and Advanced Manufacturing courses starting in the spring semester, with more likely in the fall. The courses are designed to prepare students for jobs, with instruction in traditional fabrication tools as well as laser-cutting, 3D printing and 3D scanning.
Open Works, which formally opened on Greenmount Avenue at the end of September, has all of those tools, and then some.
“It’s like Disney World for industrial artists,” said Doug Kendzierski, chair of applied technology at CCBC’s School of Technology, Art and Design.
CCBC was already entrenched in Baltimore’s maker community, with the Catonsville campus housing the area’s Fab Lab. Open Works General Manager Will Holman has documented taking a course there.
Officials cut the ribbon with Open Works–made scissors, Sept. 20, 2016. (Photo by Stephen Babcock)
Partnering with Open Works provides access to a bigger facility for CCBC. It’s also a way to give city residents closer access to the courses that CCBC already offers. The partnership also includes a discounted membership for students and faculty at the college. As Kendzierski put it, “The city is all of our city.”
Kendzierski said the partnership reflects the college’s desire to build industry partnerships to help identify material that will be the most useful for students entering the workforce. In turn, “We are the source of excellent tech instruction,” he said.
CCBC instructors are already offering introductory safety courses at the 34,000-square-foot space through the college’s Design, Fabrication and Advanced Manufacturing program.
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