ATU MakerSpace on Sligo campus open to all disciplines

Most popular with Interior Architecture & Design students last year

Atlantic Technological University’s MakerSpace on the Sligo campus is available Monday to Friday for booking by all staff and students across campus, offering the opportunity to collaborate with the expert team and bring ideas to life!

In 2025, MakerSpace on the ATU Sligo campus bucked the international trend when it revealed that 46% of those who used the facility over the 2024/2025 academic year were female. (UNESCO figures show that females continue to be under-represented in the STEM subjects – only 35% of STEM graduates are female, a figure that has remained unchanged in the last ten years.)

Funded by the Higher Education 4.0 Project under the Human Capital Initiative (HCI) Pillar 3, ATU MakerSpace was officially opened on the Sligo campus in the Spring of 2024.

From 3D printers and laser cutters to traditional crafting tools, ATU MakerSpace equipment on the Sligo campus supports a wide range of STE(A)M activities. Each piece of equipment has been selected with versatility and accessibility in mind, empowering students, staff, and community members to experiment, learn, and create.

In its figures last year, the most utilised piece of equipment in ATU MakerSpace (Sligo) was the 3D printer, which 69.2% of females from Interior Architecture & Design availed of – in comparison to 30.8% men. Indeed, students from this subject area, more than any other, availed of ATU MakerSpace over the academic year.

Along with Early Childhood Care, Fine Art and Mechatronics, among the other top 10 courses to work on projects in ATU MakerSpace were Mechanical Engineering, Social Care, Social Sciences, and Robotics.

In all, 464 students availed of ATU MakerSpace between the beginning of November (2024) and end of May (2025), which represents 6.8% of the total ATU Sligo on-campus student population. The objective is to increase usage by ATU students on the Sligo campus up to as high as 20%.

For more on ATU MakerSpace or to make a booking, check out: https://atumakerspace.ie (or https://highered4.ie) or access through the QR code on the attached poster.