The University of Connecticut’s Innovation Zone held its annual iZone Maker Fair on April 24 on Fairfield Way, beginning at 2 p.m.
The Innovation Zone is a UConn organization with a focus on creativity and learning. They provide spaces such as the Emerging Tech Center and the Recording and Editing Center and promote skills like problem-solving and collaboration.
The Innovation Zone’s Maker Fair featured the work of artists, businesses and other creatives. At this year’s Maker Fair, tables were set up to show off jewelry, signs, robots, clothing and more. One table was spray-painting designs on hats throughout the event, with a line from McHugh Hall all the way out to Gampel Pavilion.
But for many engineers, the main feature isn’t the vendors, but the annual Pinewood Derby. Now in its seventh year, teams of two to four students compete to design a small wooden car capable of speeding down a Hotwheels-like ramp as fast as possible. The derby began at 3 p.m., an hour after the Maker Fair started.
“It’s pretty cool,” participant Harshal Singh said about the derby. “It’s a little inconveniently placed because I have uh, I had class like right before this, but it’s all good. It’s pretty fun. And the weather’s nice, so it’s all good.”
Singh, a second-semester electrical engineering student and a member of the engineering learning community, designed a car alongside two teammates. He said that while his group initially struggled with a design, they eventually landed on a design resembling Perry the Platypus from Disney’s “Phineas and Ferb.” The car itself is, of course, named “Perry.”
Singh was mainly responsible for the car’s circuitry. All cars in the derby were required to have an electrical circuit of some kind, along with a 3D-printed piece. Singh’s “Perry” raced alongside dozens of other cars, with names like “Ghost” or “Le Car.”
“I think it’s, like, pretty interesting to see everyone’s creativity and uniqueness come alive,” Singh said about the Maker Fair. “So, it’s just nice to see.”
Just up the hill from Singh and the Pinewood Derby was a line of tables, each run by a vendor. Each vendor had a sign with their name or organization, and a collection of various items to sell.
“It’s so fun,” vendor Nini Ly said about the Maker Fair. “I’ve been at a couple of UConn events in the past, and they’re always fun. I feel like UConn has a really good demographic of the age that, kind of I cater towards. And also they’re around my age as well.”
Ly graduated from UConn in 2023 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, with a concentration in illustration and animation. She also runs the online store Banh.ni, available on her website and her Instagram account under the same name.
Ly specializes in what she calls “cute” art, featuring designs incorporating animals and Pokémon on key chains, phone grips, notebooks, stickers and more. Her table is draped with a yellow and white blanket, on which are various displays and signs. Right next to Ly’s table are her two dogs, Winnie and Daisy.
“I’ve been getting a lot of really sweet people,” Ly said. “I mean, I obviously have my dogs here too, so people have been enjoying the dogs. Probably more than my own products, but that’s a-okay.”
Ly added that she will be returning to UConn on April 25 at Sakura Matsuri, the cherry blossom festival run by UConn’s Japanese Student Association. The event will run from 3 to 8 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom, although Ly will sadly be without Winnie and Daisy.
When asked about her involvement in the Maker Fair, Ly noted that she first became involved after UConn student Abigail Koval saw her table at a recent event and invited Ly to join in. Koval is a sixth-semester student majoring in business management and administration, with a minor in analytics. She’s also an iZone Student Manager, and helped organize the event.
“We bring different people, from students and alumni to showcase either their small business, as well as just different things that they make,” Koval said. “To show off innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. Which are the three pillars we stand for.”
Koval credited much of the event to graduate student Faata Adam, who Koval said reached out to the various makers and vendors for the event.
“I think the Maker Fair is an amazing event each year,” Koval said. “Um, of course, when weather does abide with us. It allows people to see the different items, and also small businesses that people have on campus. The different projects that people are doing.”
Thankfully, Koval is in luck. This year’s Maker Fair was held under sunny skies, with temperatures up in the low 70s and high 60s.
“It really does, like, help out small businesses,” Koval said. “And improving and empowering entrepreneurship and creativity. And it’s just a great time, being able to walk down Fairfield Way and see all of these amazing products that are being sold and shown off.”