The Edge

Activities

The Edge offers a year-round calendar of workshops, facilitated meetups, community lab and ongoing programs to help you learn and connect.

Community Lab (Digital Media Lab): We offer set times each week when you can drop in to work on your creative project with access to a computer and staff, ready to answer questions about any of the software. Sometimes skills training sessions will be run during Community Lab as well.  

Community Lab (Fabrication Lab) We offer set times each week when you can drop in to access quality, professional equipment like a laser cutter, CNC router, 3D printers (we have many and in different formats), sewing machines, soldering stations, tool shop, and general work benches. The Fabrication Lab is staffed during these times if you have questions. Sometimes skills training sessions will be run during Community Lab as well.  

Workshops

1. Induction sessions are deliverd throughout the year in the Fabrication Lab, Recording Studio as well as the Digital Media Lab. Inductions give you the basic skills, safety awareness and knowledge of how to efficiently use the resources on offer. To stay up to date and book an induction sign up to The Edge newsletter here.

2. Workshops cover a range of software and hardware skills and are either in the Digital Media Lab, Fabrication Lab or Recording Studio. To sign up for a workshop head on over to What’s on (To see some of the past workshops run at State Library you can find them documented here on the SLQ Wiki).

3. TRYIT workshops are all about trying something new, testing new skills and experimenting. Launching a workshop series like TRYIT allows us to be reactive to what’s happening around us. Workshops generally run for 2 hours and explore a different skill, plus you’ll always have something to take home with you at the end.

Facilitated Meetups

1. Hack the evening is a meetup hosted each Thursday for those that want to get in and apply their skills to new and crazy projects which require a little bit of technical skill and pizzazz. We give you access to our power tools, soldering irons and Arduinos and just about any other gear and materials you can find hoarded on level 0. In return you get to make new things and meet new people.No experience or bookings are necessary for Hack the Evening, just come along and start a conversation. You can also connect with Hack the Evening group via SLQ wiki and Facebook groups.

2. Made Today is a weekly meetup for those who want to get in an learn to apply their skills and interests in telling and capturing digital stories that are made for digital. Each week we give you access to our Digital Media Lab and recording gear and throw the occasional pizza in. In return you get to make new things and meet new people. No experience or bookings are necessary for Made Today just come along and start a conversation.You can also connect with Made today meetup group via our slack group and follow the #madetoday hashtag across social media.

3. Precious Plastics is a monthly meeting exploring DYI plastic recycling. Plastics are light, strong, durable, mouldable and cheap. These qualities are fantastic when they make useful things and terrible when they make waste. In 2013 Dave Hakkens realised that one way to fight plastic pollution is to turn single-use plastic into useful objects people want to keep. He set about designing simple machines that people can build to do just that, and the Precious Plastics community was born. We started buildign machines at The Edge in 2017 and now they are installed in the basement, ready to use. Our monthly meet up is for people interested in building machines, exploring better ways to use them, designing and making useful things from plastic waste and generally changing the world for the better. Enthusiasm is more important than experience, and bookings are not necessary.

Volunteering If you would like to volunteer at the Edge in the Fabrication lab or Digital media lab please email here for more information.