IDEA Center Grand Opening

Patrick Henry Community College’s President, Angeline Godwin, Vice President for Institutional Advancement and Campus Life, Greg Hodges, Board of Directors Chairman Rom Haley, and Martinsville Mayor, Danny Turner, welcomed guests to the innovative facility.

“This is your IDEA Center,” Godwin told the community. “This belongs to you.”

One of the best things about the Fab Lab is that it is only one of three in Virginia, the Martinsville-Henry County facility being the first to open and first to also house a tech accelerator.

“You can attract enterprises; you can attain and expand them, but we can’t create them,” Godwin said.

Haley called the center a “hub of innovation” and an “invaluable resource for our community.”

Thomas Dalton’s first cousins, Vicki Saville Bardsley and Merilyn Bremner, attended the ribbon cutting and tour.

The sisters said that Dalton’s mother, Claudia Young, donated the center.

“Tommy loved PHCC, got his education here, and grew up here. He made lifelong friends here,” Saville Bardsley said. “Tommy was a craftsman; he liked making things. He liked spending time in nature, and he also liked mechanical things. This center is right to the heart of all the things he wanted to do.”

Dalton’s cousins hoped that the center would be a positive presence in the area.

“I hope it sparks imagination, that it will be successful, and that it will bring success to Martinsville and Henry County. There needs to be a catalyst for good, and if this center can be it, that would be great,” Saville Bardsley said.

“I think it will make the community better,” Bremner said.

Walking through the facility, guests interacted with Fab Lab technicians, as well as the equipment. Bill Fain, who demonstrated what the machines were capable of, said, “Whatever you can think about, you can do it.”However, making a perfect piece takes time and practice.“You’re probably not going to get it the first time,” Fain said. “Like everything in life, you’ve got to work at it.”

 

David Dillard explained the process of scanning his face. He performed three different scans: one frontal, one at forty-five degrees to one side, and one at forty-five degrees to the other side. Using an editing software called Mudbox, users like Kenya Dillard can add facial hair, ears, and other features that the scanner did not pick up.

 

Both Matthew Wade and Rhonda Hodges encouraged members of the community to take a class in the now-open facility, like the CNC Mill class, which will take place on Tuesdays, June 7-28, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., and will cost $95 for tuition and $30 for materials. There will also be summer programs for youth; registration is now open.

“We are moving forward, and we are going to make things happen,” Godwin said.

.