Meet Our IDeATe Student Workers

2025-2026 Tech Advisors

Student workers are an essential part of the IDeATe team that help keep classes running, makerspaces open, and equipment available. These students monitor laser cutters and 3D printers, staff the IDeATe Lending Office, take inventory of materials in the Soft Technologies Studio, and more.

Please join us in celebrating some of our talented Tech Advisors, who work primarily in the Fabrication Lab and help monitor equipment and staff Open Fabrication Hours.

College of Engineering senior Stella In, who is majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering, works with the laser cutters in the Fabrication Lab — checking the exhaust filters, and making sure nothing starts burning. During her shifts, students often drop by for help with their projects. She enjoys getting a glimpse of what they’re working on, from Capstone projects to Spring Carnival booth prep to the regularly scheduled IDeATe projects.

Until senior year, In had only taken one IDeATe mini course. The course required laser certification, so she finished the mini with access to IDeATe's Fab Lab and laser cutters. She ended up spending a lot of time in IDeATe making things in the makerspace and before she knew it, she was dropping by to visit her new friends on their shifts and knew faculty and staff by face and name. She appreciates how welcoming IDeATe has been throughout her CMU journey.

"IDeATe feels almost like a second dorm to me. It's a part of my support system with people always around to bounce ideas off of, whether it's for course projects or personal ones. You don't have to have an IDeATe minor, or take a bajillion IDeATe classes to be a part of the IDeATe family. It's okay if you've only taken one IDeATe course. You just have to show up, get to know the space, get to know the people, and just be a part of the community."

As a Senior Tech Advisor, College of Engineering senior Braden Lee supervises the operation and maintenance of the manufacturing equipment available to IDeATe students, including the laser cutters and 3D printers. He also offers advice and assistance to the general CMU community during Open Fabrication Hours.

For Braden, the resources provided by IDeATe reduce barriers to creation and broaden the limits of what is possible. The Fabrication Lab supplies industry-grade manufacturing equipment for rapid prototyping. The Physical Computing Lab includes a collection of electronic supplies and testing equipment. The Lending Collection stocks a multitude of supplemental resources. He wants students to know that all of these are readily accessible on campus — that an environment like IDeATe leverages and consolidates the expansive resources available at a university for students to use at their leisure.

"On so many occasions I've been a hair's breadth away from a project’s completion and just needed one more part, one more print, one more piece to finish. The amount of equipment, materials, and supplies handily accessible to IDeATe students is incredible. Regardless of your major or interests, IDeATe has something of relevance, interest, or use to you."

College of Fine Arts junior Merlin Enriquez’s favorite part of their job is seeing people's faces the first time they watch the laser cutter in action. As a Senior Tech Advisor, they help students prep their laser cutter files, walk them through how to use the machines, and make sure everything runs safely and smoothly. They also love sharing personal projects they’ve done, to show students what's possible and get them excited about what they can make — and how much they’ve learned meeting people from so many different disciplines.

Enriquez, who is majoring in Fine Art with an additional major in Human-Computer Interaction and a minor in Design, personally loved Jayla Patton’s digiTOOL class and the projects they worked on there. One of their favorite projects was learning how to properly sand and finish a 3D print to make it look like a real figure. A video game enthusiast, Enriquez decided to make a figure of Susie from the game “Deltarune” — they found a 3D model, printed it, sanded it down, and painted it. They ended up with both a cute figure and knowledge of new techniques they didn't even know existed before.

"People sometimes treat art and technology like they're opposites, but they're actually so similar and constantly go hand in hand when it comes to innovation. Society needs both to function, and CMU really understands that, we have such a strong foundation in both arts and tech, and IDeATe is a specific space built to let you explore that overlap.

"What I love most is that you don't have to pick a niche. You can do a million different things and even combine them in ways you wouldn't expect. It's also just a great place to grow, whether you come in with a strong creative background, a technical one, or neither. There's room for everyone to find their thing and run with it!"

College of Engineering junior Marina Wang, who is majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering, works as a laser tech in the Fabrication Lab — she makes sure the lasers are set up and working and that they’re operating safely, and helps students with their projects. One of her favorite parts of her role is seeing what kinds of projects students are working on in the space, and also just hanging out with coworkers and others from the IDeATe community.

For Wang, IDeATe is a creative environment perfect for both academic work and personal projects. She recently had the chance to cut cute earrings out of some pretty scrap acrylic, just for fun. She also serves as president of the CMU Cosplay Club, which holds their weekly meetings and workshops in the IDeATe space. It offers members of the CMU cosplay community a space to hang out and work on their costumes, while sharing their unique skills and experiences.

"In IDeATe, there is less of an expectation to know what you are doing and everyone is super enthusiastic and willing to help with anything you might not know how to do already, and the entire community is super nice and friendly. Even when I am not working on anything in particular, I often find myself wandering into the basement just to hang out with my friends and see what projects they are working on. I also appreciate how interdisciplinary IDeATe is, and how the program brings together students from various different majors and backgrounds. It's really cool seeing how different people may approach similar tasks from different perspectives, and I like how everyone is learning things from everyone else."