Meet the Makers is a series of interviews to help you get to know the people who are building our makerspace. Mary Ellen is a member of YuKonstruct’s Board of Directors and has worked in architectural design and project management since 2005.
Mary Ellen, what’s your role at YuKonstruct?
I’ve been a member since 2015, and a director for a year and a half.
How did you get involved with the makerspace?
I had an intern working for me who got our office involved. (I run a small architectural practice here in Whitehorse called Northern Front Studio). We did some training sessions on the laser cutter and CNC router. We were then able to experiment with making models of our building designs, directly from the drafting software we use. It is pretty exciting to play with the tools that YuKonstruct has access to.
What do you want to build at YuKonstruct?
I’m always interested in the connection from 3D modelling on the computer to ways to realize large scale projects. 3D printing has so many possibilities in construction. Lately i’m looking at furniture designs made on the CNC router, and hopefully that will also lead into lighting fixture design.
What are you working on now?
We have a few custom designed homes and a large multi-family project in the early stages, so I will be back to try another scale model, to help our clients visualize what the buildings will look like.
What advice do you have for other makers and entrepreneurs in the Yukon?
My best advice is to keep experimenting, to see what you can make the tools do for you. And expect to do everything at least twice, (and I do mean everything).
