The IDEA Lab is the makerspace at Red Rocks Community College. Located on our Lakewood campus, we serve as an open resource for RRCC students, faculty, and staff to work on projects, engage in hands-on learning, have fun, and build community. You do not need to be in any particular class or program to use the IDEA Lab: we welcome all active RRCC students and staff and strive to create a safe and inclusive environment.
As for what ideas you choose to bring to life, that part is up to you. Whether you are working on a final project for a class, a prototype for a student club, or small figurines for a campus display, we welcome a variety of project ideas from our community. Just let us know what you have in mind, and we’ll see if we can make it happen.
Some of our available tools include:
•    3D Print Lab
•    Woodworking equipment
•    Laser cutter
•    Soldering station
•    Crafting supplies
•    And more!

Read the FAQs below for further information:

When is the IDEA Lab open?

The IDEA Lab hours are currently as follows:
Monday – Thursday: 10am – 4pm
Friday: 10am – 2pm
Saturday & Sunday: Closed

If you just want to chat or see what resources we have available, feel free to stop by during our normal operating hours, and we will be happy to show you around.
Please connect with us early if you’re working on a project with a deadline. Our team will always do our best to support as we can, but there are associated safety procedures and request processes that need to be completed before IDEA Lab resources can be used appropriately. Additionally, we tend to see a high volume of project requests at the same time (i.e. around class deadlines for midterms or final projects). If you know you’ll be working on a project with a firm deadline, please connect with us as early as possible so we can help plan out a feasible timeline in advance.

Where is the IDEA Lab?

The IDEA Lab is located on our Lakewood campus, near the Student Life desk by the West Entrance.

What if I take classes through RRCC but am not on the Lakewood campus?

No problem! As long as you are a registered RRCC student – whether you take classes in-person, online, at our Arvada campus, etc. – the makerspace is available to you.

Where can I complete the IDEA Lab Waiver?

All students should complete the IDEA Lab waiver before using our resources. This form is found in the The Rock. Once your'e logged into the Rock, follow these steps:

1. Click the menu bar in the top-left Corner

2. Choose Discover

3. Search for "IDEA"

4. Select "IDEA Lab Member Request form":

5. Read teh form and fill in the requested information. Click Submit Form when you're ready to submit.

Schedule an Appointment

You can schedule an appointment in Navigate to connect with an IDEA Lab team member. Navigate is a tool found in The Rock, and this video covers the general process of how to schedule an appointment in Navigate. After scheduling your appointment, please monitor your Student Email in The Rock regularly. You should receive a confirmation email immediately after scheduling your appointment, but our team may also follow up with questions prior to your meeting that’d be helpful to address first.
When scheduling in Navigate, select “Innovation and Engagement” for the Care Unit, then “IDEA Lab” for the Location:

From there, you'll select your service:

Our services include:
1.    3D Print request: If you have a design ready to go, our IDEA Lab team is happy to assist you with printing. We do generally reserve use of our 3D printers to IDEA Lab employees, but schedule an appointment, and we are happy to help from there.
2.    Laser cutter request: Our IDEA Lab has a BOSS LS1630. If you schedule an appointment, an IDEA Lab employee can assist with laser cutting from there. One of our most common questions/concerns is related to whether the material you are trying to cut is safe for our laser cutter. A manual is found here – information about materials that are safe for our machine starts on Page 11.
3.    Proto Lab request: These tend to be our more common appointment requests. The Proto Lab is the room in the back of the IDEA Lab that houses our woodworking tools, soldering station, and other resources. If you plan to use the Proto Lab for a project, please schedule an appointment. Regardless of your prior experience/expertise using certain equipment, we do need to ensure that one of our IDEA Lab employees with related experience is available to oversee safe operations of the space.
4.    General Questions: These appointments may be scheduled for general questions about the IDEA Lab, assistance planning out a project, or if one of the above requests doesn’t exactly fit what you’re trying to do. Schedule an appointment, and one of our team members will be happy to talk things through!

Keep in mind that our IDEA Lab employees have unique experience levels with different tools. Scheduling an appointment in Navigate is the best way for us to ensure that you’re connected with someone who has expertise in the resources you’re intending to use. If you do run into any questions when scheduling an appointment, feel free to reach out to idea@rrcc.edu.

RRCC Instructors: Class Project Request

I’m not sure what to do or how to use certain equipment. What should I do?

 Link to this form: https://forms.microsoft.com/r/bef5qPZMDp?origin=lprLink

Just ask! We’re happy to help you with a project, and we’re also happy to coach you on how to use most tools if you don’t have prior experience. We’re big believers in learning from experience – our main concern is making sure that experience is safe. Our team is here to help you connect with a staff member who has proper expertise with any resources you’re interested in using.
As for ways to get involved, check the IDEA Lab Events tab on the left side of our website. Many of our activities assume no prior knowledge and are meant to be engaging for all members of our community, regardless of previous experience.

Can I bring a class, club, or group?

Yes, please! We warmly welcome class visits, club meetings, teambuilding exercises: you name it. Just let us know ahead of time: there is a request form for instructors that can be submitted at the top of this page. Requests are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis, but we love collaboration and working with groups and will do our best to accommodate any request for which we have the resources and capacity.

Can students work for the IDEA Lab?

Yes! Our IDEA Lab team consists of student employees who have experience in various areas and are passionate about coaching others, collaborating, and leading activities. If we have any open positions, they will be posted on the RRCC student job board. If you’re interested in seeking student employment with the IDEA Lab in the future, get started as early as you can, and follow the guidance listed by RRCC Financial Aid about work study positions. As a heads up, these processes can take time to set up, so plan ahead and connect with our Financial Aid team at their contact information listed here if you need help.

Highlights

Our IDEA Lab team has so much to celebrate! Here are just a few recent activities and accomplishments that we’d like to share:

Women of NASA

Our IDEA Lab team celebrated Women’s History Month in March by creating a display for our campus recognizing amazing women from NASA’s history. The display was built in the IDEA Lab using a combination of woodworking tools in our Proto Lab, 3D-printed planets from our 3D Print Lab, and LEGOs. Our IDEA Lab team hosted some demonstrations of our 3D Print Lab in the process, providing RRCC staff/students a chance to come learn the basics behind 3D printing and watch a print get started.

The Colorado Robotics Challenge

RRCC’s Space Grant Club consists of a few different teams, with one being our Robotics team. In April 2024, our Robotics team traveled to Great Sand Dunes National Park to compete in The Colorado Robotics Challenge. They’d been working since August 2023 to build their autonomous rover for the competition, and the challenge presented the culminating test to see how their rover would fare. Teams from colleges all over the state work towards this challenge and are held to various rules: their rovers must be of a certain size, mass, cost, and so forth. As you may be able to tell from the picture below, the setting at Great Sand Dunes National Park makes for a wonderful backdrop, but an all-the-more difficult task of getting a rover to move successfully on sand. We celebrate the journey of our Robotics team this year and are so proud of their final result!

Moss Art

Our IDEA Lab team celebrated Earth Day by creating Earth Day-themed art using wood, decorative moss, and crafting supplies. Our IDEA Lab team hosted a demonstration of the laser cutter in our Proto Lab to discuss the basics of laser cutting and give RRCC students and staff in attendance a chance to watch a cut get started. For this activity, our team cut circular wooden shapes with an engraved tree design. Students and staff were free to decorate them according to their own artistic visions at that point, and we were amazed with what people came up with!