A huge shout-out to those who got the new projector up and running in time for our monthly movie nights. We here at the Co-Lab Does Committee (CDC) are really appreciative of all of the hard work of the members who researched, proposed, and then installed something the whole lab is going to have fun ...

David Hinkle will be teaching a leatherworking class on Saturday, May 10th after the meeting (So about 2pm). The class will cover the basics of laser assisted leather working. There will be a $10 charge to cover materials. During the class you’ll make a small QC Co-Lab key chain with a tooled logo. You’ll learn ...

This year the QC Co-Lab will be participating in Amateur Radio Field Day from Saturday, June 22nd at 12:00 PM through Sunday, June 23rd at 12:00 PM. Ham Shacks were some of the original hackerspaces, so it only seems fitting to have one here. Field Day for us kicks off at noon and hopefully runs ...

  The Putnam Museum is throwing a Mad Scientist Ball to help fund their new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Learning Center on Saturday, May 18th at 7:30 PM.  The Putnam is helping to energize the Quad Cities and build more awareness about the STEM community, and are hoping to put together a fantastic ...

David Hinkle, QC Co-Lab President and self-proclaimed “pretty good programmer” is hosting an Arduino programming class with a focus on robotics automation. This class will start on Saturday, May 25th, 2013, and span 4 sessions held weekly from 2 to 4pm. Each session has a suggested donation of $10, payable either online at our donations ...

This Saturday, April 27 from 10 am to 4 pm, join the QC Co-Lab as we head up to the Lindale Mall for the Cedar Rapids Mini Maker Faire!  We’ll be showcasing a myriad of projects that embrace the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics) and/or maker philosophies, such as quad copters, a ...

This year, one of our members is presenting at Security B-Sides Iowa 2013 in Dubuque, IA. Chris Cooper will be presenting his talk on building “Dynamic Linux Firewalls using IPSet”. If you would like to check it out, his slides are available as well as some example scripts referenced in the presentation. If you weren’t able to attend, the ...

Long overdue for an overhaul, and in desperate need of  more accessible content publishing capabilities, the new QC Co-Lab site should be a refreshed, and revitalized site for publishing the goings on here at the Quad Cities’s First Makerspace.  Feel free to check out the new site, and send feedback to [email protected] First up was ...

Dave Langkamp has been hard at work on this home built Solsylva CNC Machine. He used his expert design and fabrication skills to assemble it, with a little help from members of the Co-Lab on the electronics. Check out his blog to see what he’s been fabricating and how he’s improved the design.