2014 Summer of Extreme Design-Build

Introduction

OSE carries out most of its overall development at its headquarters - Factor e Farm - a 30 acre facility in the Kansas City area of Missouri.

Development happens most intensively during our Summer of Extreme Design/Build. In 2014, we will emphasize swarming – working with a group of 24-30 dedicated developers on a single machine or module design/build each week. In this way, rapid development and prototyping occurs on the time scale of a week – harnessing a weekly effort on the order of 1000 development hours. Areas include machine prototyping and infrastructure-building. Our summers are focused on University students – though anyone can join.

Program

Our program involves design, build, and documentation. While engineering is the core aspect of our work - our program is intended for anyone interested in transitioning from zero to maker. We will focus on teaching the hands on skills from welding to computer design to physical computing to construction to agriculture. We emphasize practical, interdisciplinary training that may otherwise be difficult to obtain at a traditional school or university.

The 2014 summer will center around the Compressed Earth Brick (CEB) brick press, construction using CEBs and other methods, CNC torch table, and tractor. Because our program is comprehensive,

Schedule

The schedule for the summer will be design work in the morning, followed by lunch, and builds/hands-on in the afternoon. The morning design session will take place from 9 AM to 1 PM, followed by lunch. The build work will go from 2 PM to 6 PM. Dinner will be served at 6 PM sharp.

The work week is Monday - Friday, a total of 40 hours per week. Weekends are off.

Typically, prototype build will take place all day Friday. The time leading up to that will include design, documentation, and build preparation. During the build, will will take pictures and video, and update our documentation.

Apply Now

To apply, see the Dedicated Project Visit (DPV) page. The cost during the summer and other breaks is $15 per day, and $10 per day during other times. An additional benefit of participating for a month or longer is that you get to participate in any Workshops taking place at Factor e Farm during the time of your stay. We may consider financial assistance to those in need.

Setting up OSE Presence at Universities

If you can help us set up OSE presence at your university – such as a summer internship, alternative break program, or as a course for credit – please contact us at info at opensourceecology dot org.

Read more about OSE's overall Development Process.