NESIT Hackerspace Has Doubled in Size
Meriden, CT (PRWEB) July 23, 2013 -- NESIT Inc., a § 501(c)(3) charitable organization that serves as an educational and innovative hub to the residents of central Connecticut, will officially relocate to its new space on August 3, 2013.
NESIT’s new 4,000-square-foot-facility includes some important new features:
● A massive data center. 454 Life Sciences, a Roche Company, donated a 75-node cluster of servers and IT equipment to NESIT. In collaboration with 454, NESIT transformed these resources into Connecticut's first community data center: a large pool of servers where non-profits, schools, and individuals with an interest in science and technology can host projects and perform research. These servers allow NESIT to facilitate projects that use databases to collect and analyze sensor data for various uses: research, school projects, or simply hosting websites for the local community.
● A large wood and metal working shop. The owners of 290 Pratt St. provided NESIT with a larger space that contains woodworking equipment left behind by previous tenants, including drills, saws, and everything else needed to work with wood or metal.
● A formal class room suitable to seat at least 15 people. From online marketing and SEO to soap-making workshops, NESIT hosts classes on a broad range of topics that can benefit members of the community.
● A dedicated arts and crafts workspace. Here, NESIT’s members and guests can paint, weave, thread, stick, sew, design and model anything they can imagine.
● A collaboration area. NESIT’s collaboration area inspires creativity in supportive surroundings: a library of books, whiteboards, plenty of supplies (of course), and a kitchen. Here, people can connect and join together in their creative thinking.
● A 3-D printing, electronics, and robotics lab. This is one of the biggest open community labs for electronics in Connecticut. The NESIT lab features numerous 3-D printers and everything needed to build an electronic circuit or robot.
The story behind the NESIT expansion
After their previous facility suffered some damage, NESIT was approached by Paul Arnold of 454 Life Sciences in Branford, CT. Paul owned equipment that he thought would make a huge difference if it were placed in the right hands, so he came to NESIT The NESIT team explored the possibility of simply hosting the servers in NESIT’s current facilities, before realizing that this was a huge opportunity to expand not just the IT (information technology) work but all services. With a rapid expansion in mind, the NESIT team proposed the idea of the community data center to Paul and his team, and to NESIT’s stakeholders. Many people made significant donations, and it turned out that the expansion was a no-brainer.
Soon, NESIT organized weekly public NESIT 2.0 design meetings. Every week, NESIT filled their little space with dozens of people who wanted to participate. The entire design was fiercely debated, documented, and picked apart. NESIT chose only the best ideas for the new space, in order to offer something special to Meriden and to the central Connecticut region.
The world of hacking has traditionally been portrayed as a stronghold of mystery and exclusivity, where only experts are welcome. That’s not the case at NESIT. Here, everyone is welcome to stop by, visit, and utilize NESIT’s community resources to develop their potential and learn by participating in hands-on, collaborative projects.
William Reyor, NESIT Inc., http://www.nesit.org, 203-514-2257, [email protected]
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