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At first the idea behind TinkerSpace Kochi sounds Utopian and the motto — learning through community — farfetched. The kind that makes one think “no way”. But, in fact, for the past three years, since 2022, this space for tech students/ young innovators from across the State has been open 24/7 facilitating exploration, offering hands-on experience and giving the courage to develop new technology without charging a penny.
Making the space even more unique is that it is the country’s first such initiative. And this space is not just for engineers, it is anybody who wants to be a maker, innovate and/or upskill.
Tucked away in a corner where Thrikkakara and Kalamassery meet, off the Seaport-Airport Road, in Kochi, TinkerSpace aka the Hacker Space (Kerala’s first) stands out, literally, beacon-like at dusk when techies — budding and enthusiasts (read makers) — get together to work. Inside, the makers are either hunched over their laptops or accessing the GPU (graphics processing unit, access to which is free here) to develop AI models or working at the Maker’s Table or the 3-D printer or involved in discussions that pivot technology.
TinkerSpace is part of a larger technological initiative Tinker Hub, which is a non-profit ‘open innovation lab’ that has been active for the past decade in Kerala.
By students, for students
Built on the four pillars of learning, community, doing good and opportunities, the Tinker Hub community, today, has a presence in 65-odd campuses in the State which include colleges such as RIT Kottayam, College of Engineering (Thiruvananthapuram), Government Engineering College (Idukki), LBS Kasaragod, Kannur University College, Farook College (Kozhikode), Government Engineering College (Thrissur), TKM College (Kollam), Model Engineering College and CUSAT (Kochi) among others.
The 3-D printed models.
| Photo Credit:
THULASI KAKKAT
TinkerSpace gets around 100-120 daily check-ins, with some young makers coming from out of the city, “there is a student who comes here, from Thiruvananthapuram, on weekends to work on the GPU. He comes on Saturdays, works on his project and returns on Sunday,” says Mehar MP, CEO of Tinker Hub. There are bean bags to crash if one is tired, a canteen space and even the facility to shower if one stays over to work.
The figures speak for the 29,000-odd members strong community, which has hosted more than 1,000 events and facilitated many other tech-driven opportunities for young makers and tech enthusiasts, with an emphasis on making space for women in tech.
Co-founders Mehar MP and Abid Aboobacker at TinkerSpace.
| Photo Credit:
THULASI KAKKAT
The idea took seed more than a decade ago when the founders — Mehar MP, Abid Aboobacker, Nidhiya Raj and Praveen Sridhar — were still in college. Abid, a student of English Literature, was the only non-engineer of the four. The others were batchmates at Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT).
It all started while volunteering at Mozilla Maker Party at CUSAT in 2014. An annual global campaign, the Maker Party, was intended to teach web literacy and digital skills through community-run events. It was very different from the conventional, classroom experience of learning; an idea that resonated with the batchmates who would later go on to found Tinker Hub. The participating students could access, explore, watch and experience a wider range of topics and technology.
“We had around 4,000 participants. They had many questions, saw how things could be done in real time. For instance, seeing robots respond as they watched!” recalls Mehar, a computer science engineer and CEO of Tinker Hub Foundation, which facilitates TinkerSpace. It opened their eyes to how technology could be a gamechanger that could literally change lives. Buoyed by the overwhelming response of the event and the curiosity of the students, they realised they were on to something worthwhile and meaningful.
The Maker’s Table at TinkerSpace.
| Photo Credit:
THULASI KAKKAT
It thus became the Tinker Hub community in 2015, functioning out of CITTIC, the incubation hub of CUSAT. The evenings were alive with discussions and exchange of ideas, giving students a peek into becoming makers and what can be achieved. It was registered as a society in 2016.
Free knowledge sans paywalls
They count the late computer programme/hacktivist Aaron Swartz as one of their biggest inspirations; especially his ‘Guerilla Open Access Manifesto’, an open access movement, which argued for access to scientific research material and any such data sans paywalls and other similar barriers that deny/prevent access.
Which, Mehar reiterates, is the Tinker Hub philosophy: “There should not be a paywall between people and knowledge. Knowledge should be free.”
Those initial years were heady, despite the constraints of operating out of a space which came with limitations which included pockets of data connectivity. It was a time when the startup scene was picking steam, it was all about building apps and more ‘making’.
Despite all that was happening under Tinker Hub, it led to introspection. Says Mehar, “We couldn’t help wondering if we were able to do things because we were in Kochi, with our easy access to resources.”
Tinker Hub encourages self-learning and peer-mentoring.
| Photo Credit:
THULASI KAKKAT
It was time to test the model in colleges away from the Tinker Hub turf. “Our first batch of students (part of the Tinker Hub community) were at RIT Kottayam and government colleges in Thalassery. It was nothing fancy, just a bunch of kids hanging out in the college canteen, talking about and exchanging ideas on tech. Things started happening for the kids — Google scholarships, tech experts visiting those campuses!”
It opened their eyes to the potential they could unlock; besides, Tinker Hub work was getting noticed, it got its first community funding from Kerala Start-Up Mission.
An iteration of Kerala’s library culture
In 2020, Mehar met tech-entrepreneur and investor Kailash Nadh, CTO of Zerodha, who suggested the possibility of a permanent physical space accessible to students. To cut a long story short, TinkerSpace was thrown open to the public in 2022. TinkerSpace is not to be mixed up with a co-working space.
Mehar calls it an iteration of Kerala’s unique library culture, only that it is an open space for technology.
The not-for-profit hub for innovation is also Kerala’s first hackerspace.
| Photo Credit:
THULASI KAKKAT
Apart from workshops and hackathons, the TinkerSpace calendar of activities includes AI Wednesdays when students get to learn about the latest in AI, while on Maker Thursdays makers can build stuff, there is even a workshop — Kutty Makers — for kids from eight to 18 to explore their skills in electronics, robotics, programming, 3-D modelling and more. Industrial visits and workshops by subject experts are thrown in apart from similar events organised by others.
When science and technology intersect
The TinkerSpace/Tinker Hub agenda is multilayered, it is not only about developing skills of coding or AI or developing apps, but the members of the community are also encouraged to explore the intersectionality of technology and society.
The Surgical IntraOP Automation Hackathon, hosted by Tinker Hub in August, was Kerala’s first medico-tech hackathon which had medical professionals and students of medicine team up with tech experts to build smarter tools for surgery. AI researchers, roboticists and hardware engineers worked together seeking tech-based solutions. Another was on justice innovation in association with Agami, is a non-profit which works towards innovation in law and justice.
Earlier this year, it hosted a hackathon, Tink-Her-Hack 2.0 for women which saw the participation of 3,000-odd women from various parts of Kerala. This is just one of the women-exclusive initiatives to empower women in tech. The No Internet Day meant makers had to build without access to, well, the Net. “The makers had to think fundamentally…for instance build a website without the Net!” says Mehar.
Terms such as peer-driven and mentor-guided form a large part of the Tinker Hub vocabulary, which connects with the other idea that the non-profit derives from – community.
These facilities come at a cost, which leads to the question about funding. “It comes from the contributions from start-ups, the founders…anybody who wants to contribute,” Mehar informs. The funding partners are Samagata Foundation and FOSS (Free and Open Software Source) United.
Rishi Krishna, a member of the Tinker Hub community at TinkerSpace.
| Photo Credit:
THULASI KAKKAT
Rishi Krishna, a third-year student of engineering at CUSAT has been part of the Tinker Hub community for a few years now. He treasures the experience, the sense of community, and the mentoring at Tinker Space. It shows when, as he explains an idea, Mehar questions him on the feasibility of it and suggests an alternative. “I enjoy the sense of community, the freedom to create or work on an idea and the organic brainstorming that takes place here,” he says.
Reema Shaji, a member of the community is currently in the UK on a Chevening scholoarship.
| Photo Credit:
THULASI KAKKAT
Reema Shaji, a computer science engineer from MES Kuttipuram, who was part of TinkerSpace for the past two years as the project manager is now in the UK on a Chevening scholarship. She was the coordinator of Tinker Hub projects, for her it has been space to grow and give back to the community.
Philanthropic aspect
While it may seem like it is all about technology and innovating, there is a philanthropic aspect to Tinker Hub and TinkerSpace, which a flashing ticker at the top of the Tinker Hub website announces — ‘don’t fly solo’ and ‘be kind’ — along with ‘coding is a superpower’ and ‘skills pay the bills’.
“It is not just about getting a job or earning, it is also about how you value others. Being kind is important, one should feel excited to be here and help each other. It is about learning through community,” says Mehar of TinkerSpace. “It is about paying forward and when a young innovator or anybody for that matter sees that being done, they will do the same,” he adds.
Utopian? Looks achievable, or at least Tinker Hub makes it sound like it can be done.
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