Fresh Start with UpStart

It has been a year since a fire razed the buildings of the Faculty Center and the College of Arts and Letters. Books, certificates, documents and more turned into ashes in just one night. One of the places that was greatly affected by this disaster is Maroon FM’s radio broadcasting station. The organization had to lie low for a semester until they were able to find a new space again, where they can pursue the organization’s goal: to operate an FM station in the university.

Who would have thought that a single photo can lead the organization into establishing their own station again? UPStart’s president, Coby Lim, recalls the time when he posted a photo of their new endeavor called MakerSpace, a free space where you can come in and make things—hence the name. “We agreed to let Maroon FM use it because we do advocate people who make, create, build... everything; and radio broadcasting is making things. You share knowledge, ideas, and create.”

UPStart is a university-wide organization founded in 2014. They were initially an organization for start-ups, but eventually became a “maker org.” They are currently focused on building things because they wanted to see more of their ideas coming into life.

One of the organization’s initial plans is to have a space where people can freely come in, work on their projects and share ideas with everyone. They were able to obtain a room around September 2016, approved by the National Center for Transportation Studies, and called it MakerSpace. What makes it better is the fact that it is open to everyone in the university. “People don’t have to make things, they can still come in and share their ideas. People who made things before can come here also. We can give them a good community where they can share and teach us, and we can teach them.”

In the near future, he wants to see Makerspace as a multi-disciplinary research laboratory. “Personally, I want to make a research lab out of this. Research here in the university is very modular—we tend to stick to our own departments,” says Lim. He admits that it may take time because their goal is to change a culture in the university, but adds that they are already seeing results. He is proud to see that the organization’s goals are slowly coming to life.

Currently, the organization works on internal development. They are working on some projects like creating a real lightsaber, constructing props to sell, and they are working on a partnership with another organization to create a mobile app for UP students.

More people and organizations like Maroon FM will greatly benefit from fruitful partnerships with groups who have admiring advocacies. For UPStart, it is bringing your ideas to life. As what Lim says, “When you start things, you make a difference.”

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