The growing innovation district at Tonsley will host this year’s Adelaide Mini Maker Faire on Sunday, bringing more than 100 exhibitors to the main assembly building area.
Inventors and designers, including Flinders University engineers and scientists, will join artists and traditional craftspeople in showcasing their skills – from filmmaking and special effects to robotics and 3D printing.
With the Tonsley site now hosting more than 30 companies and about 800 jobs, the 61 hectare former car-making precinct is gaining strong momentum, says Megan Antcliff, the Director of Technology and Creative Industries and Tonsley Redevelopment with the State Government Investment Attraction Agency.
“In just over three years, the State Government and our founding partners including Flinders University, have transformed an empty site into a place where local companies can collaborate closely with global companies, potential investors and partners, research and development, training organisations and other services,” she says.
“We spent a lot of time looking at what companies need to flourish in an innovative working environment in ways that hadn’t been done before.
“One of the great benefits of small to medium businesses co-locating at Tonsley is the ability to access co-working spaces near global, innovative companies such as Siemens, to learn from start-up supports such as Flinders’ New Venture Institute and Innovyz, and to understand what they need to succeed and attract customers.”
Flinders’ School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics is expanding, along with further developments at the new Tonsley TAFE, or the Sustainable Industries Education Centre, where renewable energy group ZEN Energy is co-located.
There will be more developments at the site in 2016, including further planning for residential and commercial buildings and occupants.
The 2015 Adelaide Mini Maker Faire, from 10am to 5pm on Sunday 1 November, will celebrate technology, science, engineering, arts, craft, food, sustainability, and promote the Tonsley site as a hub of innovation, education and entrepreneurship.
Presentations will be given at the Flinders at Tonsley Lecture Theatre 1 including a talk by Mad Max: Fury Road prop-maker Matt Boug, science experts Rob Morrison and Deane Hutton from The Curiosity Show, and about the winners of this year’s State Government’s Open Data competition.
Flinders will also host a robotics competition and the Makerspace Soldering Workshop with Hackerspace. The Wham V autonomous catamaran, Husky ground vehicle robot and Flinders’ Motorsports Team vehicle being built for this year’s university competition will be on display in the mechanical workshop hub space.
Special trains will run hourly on the Tonsley train line this Sunday, enabling easy access to the Adelaide Mini Maker Faire via the Clovelly Park train station.