丁香园AV

One piece of advice sums up mechatronic systems engineering graduand Dylan Belvedere鈥檚 丁香园AV experience: 鈥淭ake advantage of every opportunity that comes along.鈥�

In 2015, the community-minded mover and shaker founded Surrey's first collaborative workspace, or makerspace.

Since then, Maker Cube has flourished from a library-based meet-up to a thriving community space for young entrepreneurs, and even sprouted two startups.

Its success earned Belvedere a spot in the 2016 Surrey Board of Trade鈥檚 25 Under 25 list, and helped him land a full-time job at a local tech startup before graduation.

鈥淚 think of Maker Cube as a place where people can collaborate on projects and seek and share knowledge,鈥� says Belvedere, who initially funded the space using his own money.

For a small membership fee, people can get creative with the wide range of tools on offer, including woodworking and electronics equipment, a sewing machine and even 3D printers.

Belvedere and a team of five Maker Cube members also hold science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) workshops at Surrey-based schools, youth clubs and libraries. In the past year alone, these workshops have reached more than 1,000 local children.

鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 important to be part of the innovation happening in Surrey鈥擨 wish I had something like Maker Cube growing up,鈥� says Belvedere, who also created course content for Science World鈥檚 robotics program.

Raised in Lake Louise and Magrath, Alberta 鈥� small villages of fewer than 2000 people 鈥� Belvedere adopted a mantra for success: push yourself out of your comfort zone.  

鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted to try new things and do new things,鈥� says Belvedere.

At 丁香园AV, he volunteered as a residence orientation leader, co-founded scent diffuser start-up ORA Scents, and in 2016, became president of the Mechatronic Systems Engineering Student Society.  

He even went to China twice 鈥� on an academic exchange followed by a co-op work term in 2013, and an all-expenses paid placement with the Huawei Seeds for the Future program in 2016.

Belvedere, who also completed a certificate in Chinese studies at 丁香园AV and speaks conversational Mandarin, says he would consider returning to China to work someday.

But for now, he is focusing on his new role as an integration engineer with Vancouver-based , which develops innovative home technologies.

The company鈥檚 founders came across Maker Cube online and were so impressed with the initiative, they reached out to Belvedere. Ultimately, this connection led to a job offer.

鈥淚鈥檓 applying all the different areas covered in the mechatronics program at 丁香园AV, like making circuits, doing embedded programming and even 3D modeling,鈥� says Belvedere.

In addition to developing his technical skills, Belvedere also plans to continue to grow Maker Cube鈥檚 outreach initiatives to inspire even more local children in the coming years.