Intent:
The HEMI Outstanding Makerspace award recognizes the combination of the community of past and current people (makers, staff, faculty, students) within a makerspace that serves as a shining example of the principles, practices and philosophy espoused by HEMI and ISAM. The emphasis of the award is not on the inanimate (space, equipment, classes, etc…). This award first recognizes the people of the makerspace and the amazing things they’ve been able to accomplish as a result of combining a community of makers AND a makerspace. This award honors outstanding makerspaces/communities that have made significant contributions via being an example to others in the field; and/or to advancing the state of the art in the practice of academic making. These spaces represent the most influential spaces/communities in the field. The expectation with this award is that it is given when there is clearly a deserving candidate. At most one award per year will be given in this category.
Criteria and eligibility:
This award is intended for spaces with at least 5 years of documented run time, though exceptional candidates may have less ‘time under their belt’. The case for an award must be able to demonstrate the significant tangible impact at the space’s home institution and include significant impact on university-level academic makerspaces/making beyond the home institution. To be eligible, a candidate community/makerspace must be active at a university.
Application process and deadline:
Applications may be submitted by a mixed team of two more of the following: university student, faculty or staff member – as long as at least one staff member or one faculty has attended 2 or more of the preceding 4 ISAM meetings. Applications may not be submitted by teams of only students, or only staff, or only faculty.
For 2025, applications are only accepted via email of an application package to culpepper@mit.edu by Friday, July 11th, 2025, 11.59pm US Eastern.
An application package must consist of the following components, in the following order, collated within one PDF:
- Cover page with one paragraph summarizing the qualifications and listing the name and emails of the application team
- 4 page max summary of qualifications/justifications (must be 1″ margins, 12pt font, double spaced – or application will be rejected)
- The summary must include a 1/2 page max bullet-point summary of the most salient impact
- 3 letters of recommendation that come from outside of the candidate’s application team and home university/institutions
Selection:
Applications will be considered the first week of July and an interim decision on awardee(s) will be announced shortly thereafter. Interim decisions are only converted into actual awards after a delegate of the candidate community/makerspace officially receives the award in person at ISAM. Candidates that do not meet the preceding conditions will not receive an award in that cycle and lose the interim designation.
Recognition:
The Outstanding Makerspace Award winner receives:
- A complimentary registration for one delegate to accept the award at the annual conference in the year the award is granted
- Recognition during that conference, including a personalized plaque
- Photo and bio on the HEMI webpage
- Recognition in the International Journal of Academic Making and Makerspaces
