Detroit, Mich. — May 5 & 6, 2012 TechShop just opened the country's newest TechShop location, and ShopBot Tools — a technology supplier and sponsor of TechShop and the maker movement — was on hand to celebrate TechShop's establishment in the Motor City.

The Grand Opening of this community hackerspace / makerspace / technology education center took place on May 5 & 6 at TechShop's spacious facilities in Allen Park. Some two thousand visitors were in attendance at Detroit TechShop, housed in a former Ford Motors research facility. Ford is a key sponsor of this, the 5th TechShop location in the U.S.

TechShop's Chairman and Founder Jim Newton explained the concept behind this growing business. "The urge to MAKE has been growing like never before in the U.S., simultaneous to the emergence of digital fabrication tools. These tools enable anyone to get involved in prototyping and production of projects of all kinds. Of course not everyone can afford to own this equipment, so we started TechShop to make traditional and digital fabrication tools available for community use."

ShopBot Tools' CEO and Founder Ted Hall was also there to welcome visitors to the Grand Opening. ShopBot supplies its digital fabrication tools (known as CNC routers) to all the TechShop locations around the country. ShopBots cut, drill, sculpt, machine, carve, or trim with high precision in relation to a digital model; they enable the making of one or many of an object, in just about any material imaginable.

Ted Hall and a group of TechShop's Dream Coaches demonstrated a ShopBot full-size shop tool and ShopBot Buddy to a very interested crowd. Hall notes, "It was great to see the excitement in the room; there were engineers, students, tinkerers, artists, and just everyday folks who want to learn about the possibilities of making using these digital tools. Having a TechShop in Detroit could be the incubator for lots of innovative ideas for the automotive industry." Hall participated in the Sunday panel discussion on “How to Create a Maker Movement: Do-It-Yourself."

Source: ShopBot Tools, Inc.