On a recent weekday afternoon, Cole Belmont, Union’s Makerspace director, stood beside a CNC router (computer numerical control) in a lab in the Feigenbaum Center for Visual Arts. Enoch Fashola ’30, a mechanical engineering major from Houston, listened intently as Belmont explained how they were going to use the automated, computer-driven cutting and milling machine to create three-dimensional tiles for display in the lab.
“We can make complex, precise cuts with this,” Belmont said. “It opens up a whole range of things for students to make.”
Cole Belmont, Union’s Makerspace director, works on a project with Enoch Fashola ’30 in the CNC Lab in the Feigenbaum Center for Visual Arts. The lab is one of five makerspaces spread across campus.
Since arriving at Union in the fall of 2018, Belmont has transformed the maker culture at the College. As the overseer of the Maker Web - five makerspaces spread across campus – Belmont has helped hundreds of students and faculty bring their ideas to life using technologies such as 3D printers, laser cutters and desktop machine tools.
He is also the person behind The Electric City Maker Faire, which brings more than 50 exhibitors to campus for making, prototyping, fabricating and exploring ideas through hands-on work.
Belmont’s contributions to the maker world are now being recognized beyond campus. He will be honored as Innovator of the Year by the Tech Valley Center of Gravity (The COG) at its awards dinner on Thursday, Nov. 5.
The award recognizes local makers who have made a significant impact on the greater Capital Region community through innovative, maker-based work such as commercialization of groundbreaking technology or growth of a unique, impactful business or organization.
Belmont offered an “innovative solution to the traditionally siloed resources in university environments,” the COG stated in its letter informing him of the honor. “This initiative has helped to break down barriers to making for hundreds of students across academic disciplines over the last eight years. Under your leadership, the Electric City Maker Faire has become a staple event for the community, helping makers share ideas and build connections while also sharing the maker ethos with newcomers.”
Belmont credits his success to the reception he received when he first stepped foot on campus after working as a manager of several student-run academic production facilities at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where he received his master’s degree in architecture and urban design. He earned a bachelor of arts in architecture (minor in studio art) at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.
“When I arrived at Union, I was immediately greeted by an enthusiastic and innovative faculty and student body,” said Belmont. “I am proud to have collaborated with so many different departments and individuals across campus. Some of my favorite moments at Union are chats with faculty to talk about their interests relative to the resources we offer and discovering new opportunities for learning moments for their students together.”
Since 2018, there have been nearly 90 courses that have integrated various Maker Web resources spread across 23 departments and involving more than 70 faculty, according to Belmont. He has expanded from two to its current five Makerspace labs, student staff has increased from 12 to nearly 50, and open hours have increased from 80 to over 200 across the labs. In addition, student use in all of the labs has increased by nearly 100 percent each year since 2020.
Cole Belmont, Union’s Makerspace director, with Enoch Fashola ’30, a mechanical engineering major from Houston. Belmont will be honored as Innovator of the Year by the Tech Valley Center of Gravity (The COG) on Thursday, Nov. 5.
He has also worked to introduce and integrate more cutting-edge tools and equipment, increase student staffing and expand access and general institutional knowledge about the range of resources by offering more specific training, tutorials and certifications for tools and equipment.
“The labs are structured so that anyone on campus with any skill level can visit any and ask questions and get started transforming their thoughts into things,” Belmont said. “The pragmatic efforts are bolstered by more community and culture driven work and we host regular skill building workshops and invite speakers to campus. We do STEM and STEAM outreach and work with local high schools. We host the Electric City Maker Faire every other year which celebrates maker culture and draws Union closer to the community of innovation in Schenectady and upstate New York.”
Belmont said there is a real spirit of innovation among students and faculty that have allowed the Maker Web to grow and thrive.
“I've found that exciting things happen when you offer a variety of tools and equipment to faculty and students and start asking what can happen when an English teacher uses a laser cutter, a classics student uses a 3D Printer, or when a chemistry class uses virtual reality,” he said. “The interdisciplinary nature of the College is a real driver of novel thinking and teaching and I get to be at the center of it.”
The COG opened in 2013 and its mission is to empower makers to connect, collaborate and create.