First hackerspace in Drenthe opens its doors on April 2
Hackers from Drenthe who want to express their creativity with electronics, soldering, 3D printing, laser cutting, photography, robots and other applications, will be given that opportunity from 2 April. Then the first hackerspace of that province opens in Coevorden.
On Saturday 2 April at the appropriate time 13:37:42 pm Alderman Stegen of the municipality of Coevorden opens the Hackerspace Drenthe. It is located at the Fablab in the Nieuwe Veste Coevorden.
Interested parties are welcome on that day between 12:30 and 17:00 to get acquainted with the possibilities that the space offers.
“In the Fablab Coevorden we have a huge workshop with machines, 3D printers, laser cutters, waterjet cutters, HoloLens headsets, robots, and so on,” says tweaker veltnet. He says that he has been working on setting up the hackerspace for two years with a small team. “At the end of March 2021 we visited the notary to set up the Hackerspace Drenthe foundation. The board consists of four people. Then corona came and everything came to a standstill.”
Tweaker veltnet moved from The Hague to Drenthe three years ago. “In The Hague I had my own hackerspace with a few friends: Theo’s Mechanische Aap. I was there almost every evening. After my move, I soon found out that there are not many people in my village Emmer-Compascuum with whom I could talk about geek stuff. Initially I had the plan to start a hacker space in my shed. That turned out not to be such a good idea, because I have a lot of junk and where do I put all that stuff?”
In the end, there turned out to be about ten people who were enthusiastic about starting a hackerspace in Drenthe. The Fablab in Coevorden welcomed them with open arms. “The Fablab was just starting up. It has a lot of beautiful machines, but lacks the technicians to do fun things with all these machines. Controlling a laser cutter is not that difficult, but controlling a robot quickly becomes quite technical. “
The space has so far been open to the ten active members on Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons. With the official opening on April 2, they hope to attract more members and be able to open more often. “We hope to have at least 30 members by the end of the year.” During the opening day, there will be a lecture on computer security by Jochen den Ouden, a digital treasure hunt through the building, a drone flying demo, escape room boxes and a lock picking demonstration. Also, users can cut a keychain with the laser cutter.
The hackerspace can be found in the Fablab Coevorden at Van Heekerenlaan 2, with the entrance at Graaf van Heiden Reinesteinlaan in Coevorden.