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Attention all you engineers, technicians, assembly line workers and anyone else out there with great ideas in Southeast Michigan. Coinciding with the first ever Detroit Maker Faire that we have been covering over the last few days at the Henry Ford Museum, Ford and TechShop announced today that a public access workshop will be opening up in Detroit before the end of this year. TechShop is an idea that was spawned out of the first Maker Faire in San Mateo, CA in April 2006.

If you've got an idea for a product or just some one-off project you want to build but you don't have the skills or the tools to proceed, TechShop is the place for you. Think of it like the workshop at MythBusters open to the public. Techshop has all kinds of amazing tools from CNC machining equipment to computer aided design workstations. For a monthly membership fee of $100, you get access not only to the equipment but also to people that can teach you how to use it properly and other members to bounce ideas off of.

Dream coaches are on staff at TechShop to guide makers in the right direction and connect them with the people that can help complete their projects. A prime example of what is possible at TechShop is the DodoCase for iPads. The creator came into the shop earlier this year with a concept and after a couple of classes and guidance in working with bamboo, fabrics and adhesives had a prototype in less than four weeks. He now has $400,000 in back orders.

The first TechShop opened in Menlo Park in October 2006 and was followed by a shop in Durham, NC. New shops will open in San Francisco and San Jose this fall along with Detroit. The idea of opening in Detroit was inspired by garage tinkerers like Henry Ford and Ransom Olds that went on to build the American auto industry. Ford officials met with TechShop at the San Mateo Faire two months ago and will now be helping the TechShop crew find a location and make connections in the local scene. Ford will also provide support to makers and consider any worthwhile ideas that come out TechShop that could be viable on its cars. Check out all the details in the press release after the break.

[Source: Ford]

Continue reading Attention Car Makers: TechShop to open facility in Detroit with help from Ford

Attention Car Makers: TechShop to open facility in Detroit with help from Ford originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 08:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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