2025 Recap

ISAM 2025 Highlights

The International Symposium on Academic Makerspaces — ISAM 2025 — brought together 388 faculty, staff, and students from 10 countries and 163 institutions to share research and practices around makerspace teaching, learning, operations, and culture.
 

ISAM 2025 highlights included:


• Keynotes from Adam Savage (Tested.com, MythBusters), Leah Buechley (LilyPad Arduino, High-Low Tech Lab @ MIT), and Karl D.D. Willis (Autodesk Research)

• 23 peer-reviewed Papers and 62 Posters advancing research in makerspace approaches
— See the International Journal of Academic Makerspaces and Making (IJAMM) website for all conference Papers, Posters and Demonstration abstracts!

• Socializing + informal networking


• 46(!!) tours of 10 UC Berkeley makerspaces, showcasing how UC Berkeley supports hands-on learning and innovation

• Next-generation tools and software exhibited by sponsors like Autodesk, Formlabs, IfMagic, Tormach, Epilog, and more


• A brand-new and very popular Demonstration track featuring interactive builds, products, and experiments


• Our second-night party overlooking the Bay—complete with a mind-bending magic show by designer + maker Andrew Evans


Congrats to ALL the ISAM 2025 Award Winners, including Neil J. Joshi, Marie Chau, and David R. Casselbury for their Best Paper, Towards Safer Makerspaces: Classifying Nefarious 3D-Printable Objects Using Machine Learning.  See all the ISAM 2025 award winners on the IJAMM website.

There’s nothing like coming together in person to spark new ideas and energy. Thank you to everyone who joined us in Berkeley—we can’t wait to see you next October at Rice University in Houston for ISAM 2026!