TN Maker Fest on October 4th!
Join us for an action-packed, family-friendly, one-day celebration of creativity and innovation at the Wond’ry! With over 60 exhibitors, from kid entrepreneurs and university labs to artisans and tech hobbyists, this festival is a showcase of passion, ingenuity, and community spirit. Explore the latest in robotics, 3D printing, woodworking, and more across three exciting floors of hands-on fun. Whether you’re a seasoned creator or simply curious, you’ll find endless inspiration around every corner. Free parking included!
This event is FREE and open to the public, so everyone can experience the magic of making! But if you love what TN Maker Fest is all about, we invite you to support it when you grab your tickets. Your donations help us keep this event accessible, vibrant, and growing year after year. Every contribution, big or small, makes a difference!
Doors open at 9:45 am on October 4.
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7th Annual TOM Make-a-thon
Tikkun Olam Makers (TOM) is a global movement of communities that creates and disseminates affordable solutions to neglected challenges of people living with disabilities. The TOM: Vanderbilt Make-a-thon is an annual event that pairs teams of Makers with Need-Knowers to build these solutions.
The 7th annual TOM: Vanderbilt Makeathon will be held Friday, October 24 through Sunday, October 26 in the Wond’ry. Over 150 Makers across 13 teams will collaborate directly with individuals with disabilities to design and prototype solutions for unmet needs. This event offers students a unique opportunity to practice human-centered design, learn from one another, and create a lasting impact on the Middle Tennessee community in just one weekend.
For example, this year, one team will create a device that allows the mother of twins Masie and Mila to connect Mila’s medical stroller, required for her cerebral palsy, to Masie’s traditional stroller. This design will make it possible for a single adult to push both children at once while also providing support tailored to Mila’s specific needs.
The event will conclude with a public showcase of the prototypes on Sunday, October 26 at 12:00 pm in the lobby of the Engineering and Science Building. Please join us to see all the cool solutions created!
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Innovation Meets Imagination at Vanderbilt SAVY and the Wond'ry
This year, the SAVY Program for Talented Youth at Vanderbilt Peabody College is partnering with the Wond'ry to offer hands-on Saturday courses where Grades 5-8 students design, build, and create solutions for the future. The offerings for this school year include:
Fall 2025
Sustainable Fashion: History, Design, and Making
(Grades 7–8)
Explore how fashion impacts the planet and discover creative design solutions to reduce fast fashion’s carbon footprint. Learn textile science, sewing fundamentals, and pattern-making while rethinking the future of fashion.
Wired Up!: Electronics at Work
(Grades 5–6)
Curious about how gadgets come to life? In this hands-on course, students will use Arduino microcontrollers to wire up LEDs, sensors, and buzzing devices—designing their own custom project while learning to think like an engineer.
Spring 2026
Threads of Change: Sustainable Style Unraveled
(Grades 5–6)
Younger learners dive into fashion, sustainability, and design—exploring how creativity can solve global challenges through hands-on projects.
Innovation and Invention with Electronics
(Grades 7–8)
Older students take their Arduino skills further, tackling deeper challenges in coding, circuitry, and design while inventing projects that light up, move, or respond to the world around them.
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Sullivan Family Ideator 2nd Fall Cohort Accepting Applications
The Sullivan Family Ideator Cohort is a free, 6-session virtual training program hosted by the Wond'ry and the Vanderbilt NSF I-Corps group and designed to help innovators evaluate their ideas and identify commercial potential. Using customer discovery and Lean Launch methods, participants test assumptions, talk to customers, and explore whether their idea is ready to move forward. Participants learn:
- - How to evaluate desirability and market potenial
- - How to identify customers and test value propositions
- - How to map competitors and revenue models
- - How to pitch an idea with confidence
The program is open to students, faculty, staff, and alumni from Vanderbilt and other universities throughout the Mid-South. The program is held virtually on Saturdays to accomodate working innovators' busy schedules. Participants should expect to commit five hours per week to the program.
The second Fall 2025 cohort runs October 28 to December 3. Teams of up to 3 persons may apply. Each team member should apply separately.
Deadline to Apply: October 13, 2025
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Wond'ry Family Weekend Open House
The Wond'ry was excited to partner with Vanderbilt University School of Engineering to host a Parent's Breakfast in tandem with the Wond'ry's annual Family Weekend Open House. Vanderbilt School of Engineering Dean Krishnendu Roy and Vanderbilt College of Connected Computing Dean Matthew Johnson-Roberson both gave talks to attending parents and families of Vanderbilt students on the importance of innovation and interdisciplinary learning.
Parents were invited to tour the Wond'ry and browse informational booths detailing various iniatives and programs such as the Wond'ry Makerspaces, the Vanderbilt Innovation Fellows, and the new Clark-Foundation-sponsored Innovation, Market-driven Productization, and Commercialization of (deep) Technologies (IMPACT) program. Wond'ry partner organizations also represented at the Open House were the Medical Innovators Development Program from the Vanderbilt School of Medicine, the Tikkun Olam Makers student organization, and the Vanderbilt School of Engineering Innovation and Workforce Development Corps.
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Important Dates & Reminders
Making Workshops at the Wond'ry
Vanderbilt students, staff, and faculty: come learn a new skill and try your hand at making! October workshops include offerings from the Fiber Arts Build Lab and the Electronics Makerspace, perfect for beginner introductions or refreshers for experienced makers.
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Challenges and Opportunities
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Fall Semester Hours
Offices
Monday-Friday: 9:00am - 6:00pm
Saturday & Sunday: Closed
Makerspaces
Monday-Thursday: 1:00pm - 8:00pm
Friday: 1:00pm - 6:00pm
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Support the Wond'ry:
By making your tax-deductible gift to our Student Innovation Fund, you help us provide students with the funding they need to turn their ideas into reality. Donate here.
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