The year 2023 is behind us. Before we embark on an exciting 2024 with lots of new projects and ideas, we'd like to take a look back with you at the past 12 months: new machines, collaborations, workshops and events. It went round and round!
In our review of the year, we look back at all the special moments and projects that made 2023 a year we won't soon forget. Have fun reading!
January: We made a sustainable start to 2023: With our new, regular repair cafés, we have become a DIY partner in the repair network! Every last Monday of the month (except public holidays) you can now repair broken small appliances (e.g. coffee grinders, irons, blenders, clock radios etc. ...) yourself with simple tools at Happylab from 4 to 6 pm together with repair experts!
February: With LOCTITE we have a new cluster partner in our programme. The speciality products such as 2K epoxy resin adhesive, screw adhesive and repair adhesive are not so easy to find in the retail trade - in our 24/7 shop they are now available around the clock!
March: March had it all! It started with the Distributed Design final presentation & vernissage, where our residents presented the impressive projects they had been working on for six months. At another event - our Maker Start-up Day - we invited (prospective) start-ups and founders to Happylab to give them an insight into how they can realise their projects.
This month, we also offered TIG and MAG welding courses with locksmith Maud Eiselsberg for the first time. Since then, Happylab has also been organising female* only welding workshops, which are very well attended.
Further news: We have introduced group memberships for teams - because "Teamwork makes the dream work!" -, put our wood-turning lathe into operation and given our lounge a makeover!
April: Yay, our team has grown: Andreas and Martin have been supporting us at Happylab since April! Andreas is mainly dedicated to workshops and electronics. Martin, with his extensive expertise in wood and metal, is our second Lab Manager alongside Lukas.
This month, we expanded the wood workshop with a new, professional table milling machine for woodworking. We also became part of a study on sustainability & circular economy in makerspaces, which is being conducted by Therese Balslev in collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark, the Danish Design Centre (DDC) and Happylab. At the end of the month, we also organised the themed evening "The ABCs of product development" with cluster partner Industri Engineering, covering product development, compliance, patents and series production.
May: At the beginning of May, we welcomed Eva Czernohorszky and her team (Vienna Business Agency) to Happylab for a morning team-building workshop. We also got another new machine: after a long wait, our Makera Carvera CNC milling machine finally arrived.
June: On 3 & 4 June 2023, it was time again - creativity and innovation were celebrated at Maker Faire Vienna with a diverse programme for all age groups! Under the motto "Makers for Future", this year's Maker Faire Vienna was dedicated to innovative ideas and solutions for shaping the future. Happylab was not only a co-organiser, but of course also an exhibitor! Together with makers from our community and their cool projects, we showed what is possible at Happylab.
This time there was also a guest of honour: Dale Dougherty, founder of Make Magazine and the maker movement, travelled from California. After his visit to the Maker Faire Vienna, Dale also visited us at Happylab, including an interview with "Pressse" editor Teresa Schaur-Wünsch.
In addition, an injection moulding machine from plasticpreneur has moved in with us permanently and our metal & wood workshops have been air-conditioned so that our members can carry out their projects in more pleasant temperatures than before, even in the summer months!
July: At the invitation of the Repair Network, Joanna and Roland from the Happylab team took part in the Repair Hackathon on the topic of "Co-Repairing Spaces" at the beginning of July. We also presented our Mobile Maker Lab - an electric cargo bike equipped with simple, mobile production machines - which we will be using in future for mobile workshops directly at schools, in parks or youth centres.
Over the past few months, we have been able to convert several telephone booths in the 2nd district into book booths in collaboration with the Urban Renewal Department and the Association of Friends of Leopoldstadt. For the book box on Max-Winter-Platz, which was opened in July, Happylab not only contributed the shelf, but also designed the back.
And there was also news in terms of enrolments. There have been three new individual training courses since July: at the lathe, in the electronics area and for the Carvera CNC milling machine.
August: Our summer camps for children aged 8 - 12 took place from July to August. The 2023 motto: "Do it yourself - with 3D printing, electronics and textile design".
With our new briquetting machine, we give new use to leftovers from the wood workshop. We donate the wood briquettes to the Start Up association, which makes them available at FOODPOINT Leopoldstadt.
And Community Manager Vjara was at the RobotChallenge in Beijing and brought us some impressions and photos.
September: We kicked off the autumn with the second round of the Distributed Design Residency, because in 2023/24 we will once again be promoting creative talent together with the Distributed Design Platform and supporting makers and designers in the realisation of their projects.
We have also been a partner of the Vienna Educational Opportunities since September! At Happylab, teachers can book guided tours for school classes via the platform, giving pupils an insight into the working world of the future.
We also hosted a teacher meet-up at the end of the month. Together with teachers, we explored how the Happylab can be used for exciting lessons.
October: An innovation has been made to our sliding table saw: the extraction bonnet has been successfully converted by Martin, our experienced Lab Manager. It is now separately height-adjustable, which makes it possible to cut precise grooves in the wood. We have also gained a new cluster partner in The cool tool. The UNIMAT machines open up new opportunities for children's workshops and special woodturning courses that introduce young makers to the world of woodworking.
We have also been offering team-building workshops at Happylab since October.
And the highlight of the month: We were there with the "Maker World by Happylab" at the Modellbaumesse/Ideenwelt-Messer. In addition to a workshop area, you could marvel at a wide variety of projects in our Happylab house.
November: There was a lot to read in November: The American Make Magazine published a comprehensive article from Dale Dougherty about Happylab and we started the maker portrait series on our website.
There were also new additions to our metal workshop: a Güde plasma cutter. And at a welding workshop for girls with Tatjana Schinko, great fantasy sculptures were created from metal. Another new feature is that rooms in the Happylab can now be booked for workshops and meetings. And in the co-working space, phone calls and online conferences can now be held undisturbed in a telephone box.
December: Christmas is approaching and to minimise gift stress, you can now buy Happylab vouchers for your loved ones via our online shop.
This month we have also added 2 new children's birthday workshops to our programme: "Woodturning - Get your hands on the wood!" and "Holzflitzer Rallye - The hot race for victory!". In 2023, we hosted a total of 95 children's birthday parties at Happylab. We are already looking forward to many unforgettable celebrations in the new year!
In December, the last workshops of the year also took place in the A1 digital.campus knowledge workshop. Last year, the children were able to print T-shirts in our textile design workshops under the guidance of trainers. In 2024, we will delve into the exciting world of plastics together with the young participants and explore the facets of recycling and the circular economy.
In addition to all these highlights, we look forward every day to the many projects that you realise with us at Happylab - whether at the laser cutter, the embroidery machine, in the wood workshop or at the 3D printers. Let's start an exciting 2024 together - Makers gonna make!