Zahn Innovation Center

Introduction

A startup incubator program that houses a coworking space and makerspace. This is an opportunity for CCNY students, however they are allowed to have members on their team from outside or from other schools.

Link

https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/zahn

Members

It is run by a small group: Chris Bobko (director), Kesia Hudson (managing director of women entrepreneurship & technology), Steven Monzon and Katherine Olives (program managers). They receive their funds through donations and sponsorships (Irwin Zahn, Kaylie Prize, and Standard Chartered).

Program structure

As of now, training is done through workshops, currently everything is virtual while pre-covid it used to be mostly in-person. The instructors for the workshops are usually led by a professional in the field, and a small portion of the workshops are taught by the Zahn staff. The training to use certain equipment in their makerspace was taught by an engineer or assistant engineer. Both training and workshops were held in groups, and both are followed by a post assessment. The workshops usually end with a "homework" for the participants to complete, and the equipment training ends with a quiz, except for the laser cutter which has an additional component of a hands-on assessment to make an ID.

Equipment

The Zahn Innovation center has coworking space in room 052 of Marshak, a makerspace in room B20 of Steinman Hall, and the prototyping room in B22. The makerspace houses 4 3D printers: Makerbot replicator 2, Makerbot replicator +, Zortrax M20, and Stratasys Objet Eden 260V. It also houses a laser cutter (Universal Laser Systems VLS6.75), a desktop PCB printer (BotFactory Squink), and a CNC milling machine (HAAS 5-axis). The makerspace houses standard hand and power tools, soldering equipment, electronic testing equipment (function generators, oscilloscopes, and power supplies), sewing machines, as well as a welding station. Only participants of the program are allowed to use the equipment.