User:Paul
My history with the Hive
In the summer of 2009 I was attending the University of Cincinnati and read an article online about 'Hackerspaces'. I did some searching for a space in Cincinnati and found that there was a group looking to start a hackerspace. The first meeting I attended was for starting the 'Cincinnati Hackerspace Project' at the now defunct Taza coffee house near UC on June 16, 2009
I joined the group under the student membership rate and spent most of my spare time at Hive13. I was the COO in 2010 and spent a couple years after that as Secretary.
I stopped coming to weekly meetings after completing my time as Secretary and continued to come in during odd hours up through 2015. Since then, I have remained an active participant in the Hive13 chat, first in IRC where I wrote our Hive13 IRC Bot, and now in the Hive13 Slack instance.
I had a lot of fun helping organize and maintain the Hive as it was moving into the original workspace at 2929 Spring Grove, and I want to continue that work now that we have moved into the new 2701 location.
About me
I graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a BS in Computer Science and I now work for a software company in Mason.
I met Emily, my wife, at the hackerspace and we went on our first date after a day of working on projects at the Hive. We were married in 2015 and now have two children.
My hobbies & interests are varied (Emily would say too varied):
- Board games
- I enjoy going to board game conventions like Gen Con & Origins. Goals are to go to SHUX and PAX Unplugged when the kiddos are bigger.
- Wood working
- Photography
- 3D designs & printing
- Machining
- The Enco RF-30 Mill mill is technically mine, but it is on permanent loan to the Hive. I purchased it at an auction and have been pretty much entirely self taught when it comes to machining.
The thread that ties these hobbies together is that I love learning new things. I am still very much a beginner at most of these and each project is an opportunity to learn more.
Why the gap in participation?
I had been incredibly active in the day to day management of the space from 2009 through to 2013. After stepping down as Secretary I still remained active and was at the Hive at least once a month up through mid 2015 when two major life events happened:
- I got married in March
- We bought a house in September
Once we had a house, my focus shifted from improving the Hive to fixing the myriad of issues that come with home ownership. Just as the house was becoming less of a source of stress, we decided it was time to have kids. At this point the house is in a good state, the kids are more independent, and I am ready to get back to working on Hive projects.
Projects I have worked on
- Hackerspace Open Switch
- Sumobot with Mr. Plow and the official Sumo Bot ring
- Modified RC Vehicle
- Laser Exhaust System (at the 2929 location)
- Glass Block LED Matrix
