In the News
January 14, 2026
Student worker Avery Bishop '27 was promoted as our first Student Manager in the Makerlab. She joins DS Lab Student Manager Eliza Bier '26. In this position, Avery will have increased project management and administration responsibilities in the MakerLab. Congratulations Avery!
Tim Hebert accepting his third place trophy at RCMadness.
Photo Credit: Tim Hebert
January 10, 2026
Tim Hebert (Head of the Automation Lab), using his custom-built RC car, won third place in the Super Spot-A Main Class race at RCMadness.
January 7, 2026
Check out this new video created by Serenity Dimatulac, featuring former BDI student workers Xan Maddock-Marks '25, Vincent Calia-Bogan '25, and Daniel Dischino '25.
Tim Hebert wins a Sparky Award at NHRL on December 6, 2025.
Photo Credit: Daniel Dischino
December 6, 2025
NHRL hands out Sparky Awards to highlight competitors' creativity, community outreach, and development. Tim Hebert (Head of the Automation Lab) was awarded a Sparky for "Most Fun Bot" at NHRL. Tim transformed his already competitive Chubby Unicorn into Chubby Unicode, which he can drive using a DDR dance pad, Rockband drum kit, or a Guitar Hero guitar.
Alex Ott won the 2025 Brandeis Startup Pitch Competition.
October 25, 2025
Alex Ott, who works in the Digital Scholarship Lab and Automation Lab, won the Brandeis Startup Pitch 2025 competition. His startup, Oblsk, is an end-to-end AI-powered platform that transforms influencer marketing from guesswork to a data-driven science. Alex has been using BDI's new High-Performance workstation on part of this project. Congratulations Alex!September 30, 2025
The Justice covered Brandeis' Robotics Team and the Automation Lab. Read how the club attributes their successes to interdisciplinary interests and a "learn to fail" culture.September 30, 2025
BDI student worker Avery Bishop wins the Perlmutter Leadership Fellowship for her work on Deishacks 2026. Congratulations Avery!
Natalie's article applies GIS to measure the visual impact of sanctuaries in the Argive Plain.
Photo Credit: Natalie M. Susmann
January 1, 2025
Natalie's new peer-reviewed article "Seeing Sacred for Centuries: Digitally Modeling Greek Worshipers’ Visualscapes at the Argive Heraion Sanctuary" was published in volume 10 of Open Archaeology. The Brandeis Library Open Access Fund covered costs for making this article open access.February 9, 2024
"Organized jointly by the Brandeis MakerLab and the Brandeis International Business School, DeisHacks 2024 marked the seventh annual hackathon for students to make positive social impacts in local communities..
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In partnership with 18 local non-profit organizations, participants of DeisHacks delved into an array of challenges spanning sustainability, education, fashion, health and much more."
September 8, 2023
"Calia-Bogan describes the MakerLab as a space for everyone. The MakerLab is not only unique, but it has opportunities for everyone on campus. The MakerLab will soon offer (later in the semester) 3-D printing training for students and faculty that don’t exactly know where to start, but want to get involved in this type of innovative technology. "June 27, 2023
"Chances are you’ve seen or used 3D printed gadgets – perhaps you’ve even printed one yourself. As Fab Labs and Makerspaces spread across the globe, more communities are gaining access to the technology and skills to design, create, and share more customized materials than ever before. There is even the potential for communities to become more self-sufficient – making what they need close to home. "March 23, 2023
"Herbert won a top prize in the National Havoc Robot League's "March of the Bots" Tournament, a live-streamed event featuring over 100 of the world’s top combat robot builders battling head-to-head with a lineup of 30lb, 12lb and 3lb bots.Herbert, an Embedded Systems and Robotics Consultant and Head of Brandeis Automation Lab for Brandeis University, was crowned champion of the 3-pound weight class for the stellar performance of his robot, Chubby Unicorn."
November 13, 2020
"As different parts of campus continue to adjust to fully virtual workspaces, departments have been forced to get creative on how to continue to engage students and the Brandeis community. And while the library is currently open to patrons at a reduced capacity, the Research Technology and Innovation (RTI) department of the library has re-imagined its spaces to allow students, staff and faculty to continue to use them, whether in-person or virtually, Director for RTI Ian Roy ’05 (IBS/ANTH) told The Brandeis Hoot in an interview."January 28, 2019
"Brandeis MakerLab held its fifth annual Printathon, a 24-hour innovative event in which students come together and compete to design a 3D- printed project, last weekend.This year, MakerLab partnered with the International Business School to co-sponsor the event, aiming to help a part of the Waltham community that faces inequity. Instead of having a single hackathon challenge as in previous years, MakerLab presented multiple challenges proposed by Waltham non-profits such as providing housing for the homeless community in Waltham. The event aimed “to fuse digital fabrication and social impact to work on real world solutions,” according to Printhaton website."
March 14, 2018
"To reinvent the traditional academic library’s role, staff members at Brandeis University are building new collaborative spaces. For the last three years, the Brandeis University library has steadily nurtured this innovation program — called the MakerLab — to give students and faculty a valuable set of services and learning opportunities.Three dedicated library staff members provide materials, education, and support for students. This allows Brandeis scholars to explore a growing number of new technology components: 3D printers, experimental drones, robotics systems, and other bleeding-edge tools. The result is a physical place for students to experiment with tech-engineering solutions for their personal projects — and a well-loved library program that promotes cross-disciplinary research."
March 6, 2018
"This past week, the Brandeis MakerLab raised $6,000 through a crowdfunding campaign. Created in 2014, the MakerLab is central to much of Brandeis’ pursuit of new and emerging technologies, and is responsible for advances in the field of 3D printing, robotics and drones. This board recognizes the importance of the MakerLab and commends the Brandeis community members involved in this innovative campus resource. "September 29, 2017
"Over the past two weeks, the Brandeis University MakerLab showcased collections in New York and Boston. On Sept. 17, they traveled to the Boston Children’s Museum to present at the Boston Mini Maker Faire. Then, this past weekend, 12 Brandeis students and several MakerLab staff members were in New York City, participating in the World Maker Faire.Featuring 3D printing, drones, robots and other engineering marvels, a Maker Faire is a tech lover’s paradise. To showcase their creations, Brandeis students teamed up with colleagues from Wellesley College, University of Connecticut and Colgate University. Brandeis staff and students gave several talks, and MakerLab co-founder Tim Hebert captured third place in a drone piloting contest featuring some of the best pilots in the world."
April 21, 2017
"Toner Plastics was proud to help sponsor this years Printathon at Brandeis University.To learn more about Printathon, visit their website. (All photos compliments of Gabriel Seltzer).On Saturday March 25th Deis3D, Brandeis University’s 3D Printing club, and Brandeis University’s MakerLab kicked off their fourth annual Printathon. This year, the social justice themed event brought over 60 participants to Brandeis’ Library, where they competed for 24 hours to design and build a prototype to meet this year’s challenge: “Make it Human”. Students from colleges across the north-east came to compete, including teams from Olin College, the University of Connecticut, and Bridgewater State University, among others. On top of that, several teams of high school students from Waltham and Brookline joined the competition."
March 26, 2021
"Do you have an idea that can change the world? Focus on converting the innovators and early adopters first.That was the advice Simon Sinek ’95 delivered March 20 to a group of 155 Brandeis students participating in the DeisHacks 48-hour social good hackathon."
See the outcomes for Deishacks 2021 here: https://deishacks2021.devpost.com/project-gallery
March 15, 2021
"The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded $300,000 to support the project Boston’s Hidden Sacred Spaces, a partnership between Brandeis University and San Francisco-based Walking Cinema.
The funding extends the work of an NEH-funded prototype to map and tell the stories of sacred spaces using 3D and interactive technologies. The project team is led at Brandeis by Wendy Cadge, Professor of Sociology and incoming Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, in collaboration with Ian Roy, Director for Research Technology and Innovation, at the Brandeis MakerLab. Michael Epstein, director of Walking Cinema, is the project’s Principal Investigator. "
See our room 3D scanning prototpes here: http://www.hiddensacredspaces.org/immersive
March 1, 2021
"Helen Wong ’19 might not be an aspiring archeologist if it weren’t for Alexandra Ratzlaff.Soon after joining the Brandeis faculty in 2017 as a lecturer in classical studies, Ratzlaff began to bring her students to the MakerLab, where Wong, then a sophomore, was giving tutorials on 3D scanning and other digital tools that could help restore and research cultural artifacts. "
January 19, 2021
"Serag teamed up with Ruosi Liu, MSBA’21, her classmate at Brandeis International Business School. Together, they thought up a solution: stylish shoes with removable heels.They both knew such shoes already exist — they’re called convertible heels. But the duo only found a few companies making them.
“So we looked for the gaps,” said Serag.
And so Tambu Footwear was born. After quickly identifying opportunities in price, design, style and branding, Serag and Liu secured vital early support for their startup at the Brandeis MakerLab and Asper Center for Global Entrepreneurship.
September 1, 2020
"Anyone who knows Ian Roy ’05 won’t be surprised that he has his own stack of 3D printers at home.A tinkerer by nature, Roy is the director of Brandeis University’s MakerLab and an adjunct professor at the International Business School, where he teaches classes on digital fabrication, robotics and rapid prototyping.
It’s also no surprise that Roy took an active role when the pandemic hit, positioning Brandeis as a leader in an inter-college working group that began sharing the best and latest information on how to manufacture personal protective equipment (PPE)."
September 15, 2019
by greatvaluecolleges.netMay 20, 2019
"Brandeis MakerLab hosted its first annual Tech Fest on May 2 in the lounge outside Rapaporte Treasure Hall. This event showcased an array of technological projects, ranging from hard robotics to 3-D printed art. "January 30, 2018
"International Business School students add 3D printing to their business toolbox3D printing is cool and all, but at first glance, it doesn’t seem terribly relevant to International Business School graduate students until you hear Uri Kedem, MBA’18, and Ian Roy ’05 enthuse about how the technology is on the cusp of transforming business along with a host of other fields.
Kedem and seven other Brandeis students took the first-ever “Digital Fabrication with Robotics” class in Fall 2017 taught by Roy, an adjunct professor at the business school. Roy is also staff advisor to the Brandeis VR, Aviation and 3D printing clubs as well as director of the Brandeis MakerLab, where any student can learn how to scan and print 3D objects using the lab's equipment...."
March 13, 2015
3DPrint.com