“MythBusters’ ” Adam Savage comes to Cleveland to inspire innovation, invention and creativity

Full day of events planned with regional leaders, stakeholders and “makers”

Inventor Adam Savage, host of the Emmy-nominated show MythBusters and advocate of the “maker” movement as a national economic development engine, will spend Wednesday, April 27, in Cleveland, meeting with local makers, community leaders and stakeholders—including the day’s first stop at Larry Sears and Sally Zlotnick Sears think[ box ], Case Western Reserve University’s center for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Savage’s Cleveland visit reflects President Barack Obama’s call that “every company, every college, every community, every citizen joins us as we lift up makers and builders and doers across the country.” A representative of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (WH OSTP) will accompany Savage as he spends the day inspiring support for the next generation of inventors.

The daylong schedule of events was planned by Lisa Camp, associate dean for strategic initiatives at Case School of Engineering, and Sonya Pryor-Jones, chief implementation officer for the MIT Fab Foundation, as a lead-up to the 2016 National Week of Making (June 17-23), announced earlier this year by the White House.

“The Fab Foundation, an outgrowth of MIT’s Fab Lab program, has committed itself to democratizing digital fabrication and making since our efforts began in 2001,” said Pryor-Jones. “We are excited to join the WH OSTP for the visit to Cleveland—an early adopter in our STEM education work and home to a rich history of manufacturing and making.”

“This visit,” added Camp, “is intended to highlight the growing ecosystem of making and fabricating in Cleveland, from education to product development to manufacturing, positioning our city and region as a national leader.”

In addition to other meetings, Savage plans to visit the following locations:

• Sears think[ box ] at Case Western Reserve University, an open-access maker ecosystem where local leaders will have a breakfast meeting and be armed with a call-to-action to continue growing the maker and fabrication movement in the city and region.

• Design Lab High School, an innovation school at the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, where students and teachers are creating solutions with fabrication and making tools, and earning college credit.

• Great Lakes Science Center is the home of the ninth-grade campus of the MC2 STEM high school—the first high school in the nation to have a Fab Lab. Thanks to the Science Center’s Cleveland Creates initiative, families and students from across the region will engage with exhibits and workshops that spark an interest in the maker movement. Students will showcase their projects and work with Savage on a community build, envisioning their future city.

• City Club of Cleveland, Cleveland’s “Citadel of Free Speech” for more than 100 years, where higher education students from across the region will showcase how they are solving community problems and creating new products, using fabrication and making to change the world and enhance their academic experience.

• Neighborhood tours in Slavic Village and Central, two of Cleveland’s most historic communities that are growing their own platforms for making and fabrication to create community change, including manufacturers, community leaders and neighborhood residents. Stops include the Boys and Girls Club of Cleveland, Slavic Village Development Corp. Maker House, Tri-C Fab Lab and CMHA Cedar Central Development.

• Cleveland Public Library, home to Cleveland’s mini-maker faire and maker space Tech Central, where residents are developing new skills and products that are being taken to market.

Savage will discuss the opportunity for the Cleveland community, which has already demonstrated itself as an early adopter in the maker movement, to lead this national effort by deepening its focus and resources to build a robust and inclusive ecosystem of opportunities for individuals and organizations to use new technologies and approaches to improve schools, launch businesses, grow vital skills in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and lead a grassroots renaissance in American manufacturing.