World Maker Faire 2013: 70,000 attendees and 650+ Makers

The long-awaited World Maker Faire will be kicking off September 21st in the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI). According to Sherry Huss of Maker Media, the best of DIY invention, creativity and resourcefulness are expected to be showcased at the Faire.

“World Maker Faire at NYSCI has become an anticipated experience for New Yorkers and, really, folks from all over the world to see, learn, and do more in the world of making,” Huss explained.

“This year we expect to have more than 70,000 Faire goers over the course of the weekend engage with 650-plus makers who will be exhibiting their amazing projects. As usual, there will be makers representing all types of projects around engineering and technology, health and science, food and sustainability, fashion, crafting and so much more.”

World Maker Faire New York 2013 is slated to bring back some Faire favorites as well as showcase new makers and their DIY ingenuity. For example, attendees can meet more young Makers, get the latest on 3D printing (MakerBot, RepRap) and experience the best of Maker start-ups. Makers will also be offered hands-on experience with various boards, including various Atmel-powered Arduinos.

As we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, the rapidly growing Maker Movement is a passionate one, and Atmel is quite passionate about being a part of it. Atmel, of course, makes the microcontroller (MCU) that powers the incredible open source Arduino board and is therefore at the very center of the whole Maker revolution. For many makers, Atmel-powered Arduino boards are the easiest and fastest way to go from platform to prototype. The best part? As with most of the Maker hardware, you don’t have to be an engineer to use it. Like Arduino’s Massimo Banzi says, “you don’t need anyone’s permission to make something great.”

Larry Magid, a technology journalist who writes for the San Jose Mercury News, recently expressed similar sentiments by noting that we are all Makers to a certain extent, even if some of us don’t know it yet.

“All of us – even Leonardo da Vinci – were late comers as far as the Maker Movement is concerned,” he opined. “Our prehistoric ancestors millions of years ago, figured out how to turn stones into tools so that they could make things. Only they didn’t have fairs, books and websites to document the process.”

Will.i.am, the technophile founder of The Black Eyed Peas, also offered a ringing endorsement of the Maker Movement and related culture a few weeks ago on Facebook.

“Every young person is going to be inspired to be a maker from now on,” said Will.i.am. “It’s like how everyone used to want to be a musician, an actor, an athlete — but a maker is what people are going to want to be.”

If you can’t make it to World Maker Faire in NYC and visit Atmel in the Arduino pavilion, no sweat. You can follow all the goings on via Twitter. Just look for the hashtags @makerfaire, @atmel, @arduino.