Celebrating 10 Years of Innovation: The Makerspace Turns a Decade Old

The MakerSpace marked a significant milestone on 31 March 2025, celebrating ten years of fostering innovation. Since its establishment in 2015, the Makerspace has grown into a cornerstone of creativity, collaboration, and hands-on learning for both staff and students.

Located in the Merensky 2 Library on the Hatfield Campus, this dynamic hub has empowered individuals across diverse disciplines to ideate, design, and prototype using some of the most advanced tools and technologies available in academic settings today.

Over the past decade, the MakerSpace has evolved beyond a tech-focused facility. It has cultivated a vibrant culture of interdisciplinary engagement, enabling exploration through 3D printing, electronic prototyping, and virtual reality.

The Makerspace nurtures a collaborative and forward-thinking environment. It also plays a vital role in developing talent by providing hands-on work experience and training to contract students from diverse academic fields - including mechanical, electronic, and industrial engineering, information systems, education, and town and regional planning - reflect the space’s multidisciplinary spirit.

The Makerspace’s strength lies in its collaborative ties with departments such as Informatics, Multimedia, Engineering, and Veterinary Science. These partnerships have not only enriched teaching and learning but also led to the development of real-world solutions to complex challenges.

As it celebrates a decade of impact, the MakerSpace is expanding with the launch of a new branch at the Groenkloof Campus, catering to the Faculty of Education and nearby departments. This extension aims to offer the same energy, inclusivity, and technical support that define the Hatfield unit.

Additionally, the Hatfield MakerSpace will expand later this year, introducing advanced prototyping tools, creative collaboration zones, and new cross-disciplinary partnerships to drive innovation even further.

Looking ahead, the MakerSpace plans to strengthen its role in research and development, particularly in areas related to innovation and artificial intelligence. As the University of Pretoria continues to lead in academic excellence and societal impact, the MakerSpace is poised to play an even greater role in shaping the future of higher education - empowering the next generation of problem-solvers, inventors, and changemakers.