Nova Labs

04/17/2022

Summer 2022 Youth Programs by Nova Labs MakerSchool

Registration for youth summer programs at Nova Labs MakerSchool is open now - learn more about our offering for young makers (K-3rd grade), older elementary school, and teens, at https://www.nova-labs.org/post/summer-2022-youth-programs-by-nova-labs-makerschool

Summer Camps are Open for Registration This summer, take time to MAKE! Spark and unlock your child’s creativity with a camp at Nova Labs MakerSchool. Your YOUNG MAKERS (K-3rd grade) can become a LEGO master builder, a wizard, or an artist. These camps provide rich, creative environments for our yo...

04/17/2022

Summer 2022 Youth Programs by Nova Labs MakerSchool

Registration for youth summer programs at Nova Labs MakerSchool is open now - learn more about our offering for young makers (K-3rd grade), older elementary school, and teens, at https://www.nova-labs.org/post/summer-2022-youth-programs-by-nova-labs-makerschool

Summer Camps are Open for Registration This summer, take time to MAKE! Spark and unlock your child’s creativity with a camp at Nova Labs MakerSchool. Your YOUNG MAKERS (K-3rd grade) can become a LEGO master builder, a wizard, or an artist. These camps provide rich, creative environments for our yo...

04/08/2022

Practically up the street from the new Nova Labs location!

04/08/2022

Welcome to the neighborhood, Amazon Fresh, and many thanks for your generous donation!

03/29/2022

📣Congratulations👏🏼 to our very own FIRST Robotics Competition Team (FRC Team 8592) Newton^2 for advancing to the semi-finals at FIRST Chesapeake Greater DC event yesterday AND for being awarded 🤖🏅ROOKIE ALL STAR AWARD🏅🤖

Sign up for a tour and you will likely see the team working on their robot!

Next stop - FIRST Chesapeake District Championship | Hampton, VA

Want to learn more about our Robotics program? Message us or sign up for a tour!

03/28/2022

Nova Labs is fortunate to have found a partner to help us with the financing to buy our permanent home in the City Of Fairfax! Things are getting more and more organized every week, and we’re having classes and tours regularly- stop by and check us out!

Freedom Bank puts its IDEAS into action to drive #clientsuccess. When a DC-area non-profit 501(c)(3) organization wanted to purchase its owner-occupied flex office warehouse space, Freedom Bank facilitated an efficient and seamless process. Located in the City of Fairfax, Virginia, Nova Labs supports a wide range of open-source development projects that benefit both the local community and the world. At Freedom our experienced bankers find creative ways to help clients secure the capital they need to grow their business.

03/19/2022

Today, we decorated Ukrainian Easter Eggs using a batik style process.

What to learn more? Sign up and learn about this amazing technique! Space is limited. Next class FRIDAY March 25th | 7-9pm

https://portal.nova-labs.org/event-4737696

03/08/2022

Makerspace Creates Hands-on Opportunities for Students, Families - VELA Education Fund

Our sponsor, the VELA Education Fund, produced a video about recent Makerschool classes and featured Nova Labs in their website. Take a look.

Nova Labs encompasses after-school programs, a competitive youth robotics program, summer camps, adult classes, community events, and a small business incubator. Over 400 families have memberships, giving them access to the 3D printers, laser cutters, and other high-tech tools in one of the largest....

02/19/2022

Nova Labs has vacated our 1930 building in #reston! And with that, our moving is done! Thank you to our dedicated #volunteers who have helped pack, coordinated with @jkmoving , and for everyone helping to get us settled in on Jermantown Road in the @cityoffairfaxva! We still have tons of work setting up shops and construction is ongoing, but shop open office hours are already going on, and sign off classes are resuming. Check out the best #makerspace in #Fairfax!

01/29/2022

The BIPOC Makers Collective* is excited to host our first Social on Friday, February 4th at 3:00 pm ET. Are you an artist, maker, technologist, innovator, or other creative who is Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color? Are you seeking to meet other like-minded BIPOC? Join us to network, socialize, and envision the future work and goals of our BIPOC Makers Collective. Registration is required: https://lu.ma/BMCSocial - the first 50 registrants get a gift card for a free drink!

BIPOC makers, register today and tag your friends!

*Formed in 2020, the BIPOC Makers Collective is a group of BIPOC technologists, creatives, and thought-leaders focused on the use of culture, making, and technology for improving the quality of life of all people of color. Our purpose is to establish a vibrant, supportive, and collaborative community of BIPOC makers, leveraging our collective expertise to provide maker and digital fabrication-centered strategies and programs in service to social and economic justice for BIPOC communities.

Please note: While Nation of Makers is an organization for makers of all backgrounds, this event is limited to makers who actively identify as a BIPOC maker. We will have other events for allies and friends of BIPOC makers in the future.

#BIPOCMakers #BlackMakers #IndigenousMakers #LatinxMakers #MakersOfColor

The BIPOC Makers Collective* is excited to host our first Social on Friday, February 4th at 3:00 pm ET. Are you an artist, maker, technologist, innovator, or other creative who is Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color? Are you seeking to meet other like-minded BIPOC? Join us to network, socialize, and envision the future work and goals of our BIPOC Makers Collective. Registration is required: https://lu.ma/BMCSocial - the first 50 registrants get a free drink card!

BIPOC makers, register today and tag your friends!

*Formed in 2020, the BIPOC Makers Collective is a group of BIPOC technologists, creatives, and thought-leaders focused on the use of culture, making, and technology for improving the quality of life of all people of color. Our purpose is to establish a vibrant, supportive, and collaborative community of BIPOC makers, leveraging our collective expertise to provide maker and digital fabrication-centered strategies and programs in service to social and economic justice for BIPOC communities.

Please note: While Nation of Makers is an organization for makers of all backgrounds, this event is limited to makers who actively identify as a BIPOC maker. We will have other events for allies and friends of BIPOC makers in the future.

#BIPOCMakers #BlackMakers #IndigenousMakers #LatinxMakers #MakersOfColor

01/29/2022

Nova Labs 3.0 - Late January 2022 Update

Updates on our build progress, including links to two walk-through videos of NL3 showing the rapid progress week-to-week. Check out our blog below:

We’ve been busy and productive these last few weeks. We’re finishing phase 1 construction, separating our space from our tenant, SunDog. And in huge news, 1916 in Reston is now empty! All tools, materials, and furniture have moved to Nova Labs’ new home at 3850 Jermantown Road, Fairfax VA. Tha...

01/27/2022

Catch ya later NL2 and #reston - you were an awesome #makerspace, but we’re off to a home we own in the #cityoffairfax. Come find us on Jermantown Road - we still have some unpacking and plenty of #volunteer opportunities over the next few weeks, but some shops have already been talking about getting back to making ASAP (we think the #blacksmiths are just really excited about being able to work indoors!).

01/27/2022

Today is the final major move (assisted by @jkmoving) from our old 1916 home in #Reston to our new spot on Jermantown Road in the @cityoffairfaxva Just a bit more #cleaning to do and a few more boxes, and we'll be move out on time thanks to our dedicated #volunteers. We have the best #makerspace thanks to you, and can't wait to share our new building as we keep unpacking and finalizing the first stage of buildout.

01/23/2022

Some #timelapse footage of the big #makerspace move of Nova Labs from #Reston to the @cityoffairfaxva
Thank you to our numerous #volunteers at both locations helping our @jkmoving pros know what to load, when, and where to put it on the other end. Just another week and we will be out of our old location.
Thanks to Bob C. for the video.

01/22/2022

"Let the lasers loose"

01/22/2022

Truck 7 is empty. Two more today.

01/22/2022

Second truck arrived.

01/22/2022

Truck 2 for the big #makerspace move, with plenty of Nova Labs #volunteers ready to help direct professional @jkmoving movers where our stuff needs to go. Our new makerspace in the @cityoffairfaxva will still need a bit of unpacking time, but we’ll be #making again soon!

01/22/2022

Waiting for the first truck at JTown

01/21/2022

Wow, so many memories! Thank you for all the GREAT maker-y moments over the years! On to the new space this weekend! -Asma

01/20/2022

Nova Labs 3.0 Build Tour - Mid January 2022

If you haven't had an opportunity to learn about our new home in the City of Fairfax, VA, 3-D Printer steward Paul takes us on a tour of the still-in-progress build-out of our new space. Changes are happening EVERY DAY by our dedicated volunteers, and this video will be out of date before we know it, but here's where things stand as of a few days ago.

This weekend is when the majority of what's left in Reston gets moved; there are volunteer opportunities for packing and helping our professional movers know where to put stuff (along with painting, drywall, and other tasks at Nova Labs 3.0). Please consider coming out and lending a hand!

https://youtu.be/ELqlvPryibM

In this tour taken in mid-January, 2022, we tour the still-in-progress build-out of Nova Labs 3.0, in the City of Fairfax, Virginia. We'll be out of our old ...

01/20/2022

Nova Labs #volunteers have been hard at work moving our #woodshop and #metalshop (and every other shop not pictured here, including our #craft area, the #lasercutters #blacksmith shop, to name a few). The biggest equipment has already been transported by riggers to the @cityoffairfaxva. We’re preparing for this weekend’s #move by @jkmoving of the rest of the shops so we can be out of NL2 in Reston by the end of the month. #progress #makerspace

01/12/2022

Nova Labs updated their address.

Nova Labs updated their address.

01/09/2022

Thank you to all of the volunteers who came out this weekend to help prepare for the big move of Nova Labs 2 (in Reston) to Nova Labs 3.0 (in the City of Fairfax). We made a ton of progress the past 2 days, plus people have been busy all week at both locations preparing, cleaning, and packing.

This week many shops move over with the help of professional movers, and we’ll start setting up so we can get back to making. But, we still need your help (and patience) over the coming weeks. Please be on the lookout for opportunities both during the week, at night, and on the weekend.

#progress #demolition #cleaning #makerspace

01/09/2022

Demoing walls at Nova Labs 3.0!

If you didn’t recreate the axe scene from “The Shining”, did you really do any demolition? Thanks, Nikolai!

01/08/2022

Part of our VolunTOUR weekend is demoing walls for our new Orange Bay (where most of our general making and hanging out takes place). Only knock down the walls with orange paint though!!

01/08/2022

Thank you, JK Moving Services, for assisting with our move from Reston to the City of Fairfax and our new NL 3.0 home!

Saturday and Sunday, January 8 and 9 are VolunTOUR days, where you can see our new home, get a tour, have some food, and stick around helping us demo walls, paint, and clean up as we prepare for equipment and supplies to get moved!

It's #NationalTechnologyDay! We're excited to support NOVA Labs robotics team in their upcoming competitions this year!

#novalabs #technologyday #roboiticsteam #roboitics #futuretech #togetherwesucceed #connectthedots

01/05/2022

Creative space Nova Labs plans to leave Reston with recent grants

Article from Reston Now about our move: https://www.restonnow.com/2022/01/04/creative-space-nova-labs-plans-to-leave-reston-with-recent-grants/

A nonprofit makerspace that supports local artists, craftmakers, and entrepreneurs is securing grants to support a move from Reston to Fairfax. Nova Labs, which launched in 2011, is moving from its 18,000-square-foot space at 1916 Isaac Newton Square West to 3850 Jermantown Road this year, possib

01/04/2022

Happy New Year from the Nova Labs 3.0 Updates Team

Happy New Year from Nova Labs. With less than a month to go until we need to be moved out of our current location in Reston, we're going to need lots of help packing and getting our new home ready.
Stop by THIS WEEKEND to VolunTOUR the new space on Jermantown Road - from 10a-7p on Jan 8 and 9. We'll have shifts available to see the space, and a variety of jobs (both skilled and for the beginner) for you to help. Full details, including the results of our Capital Campaign, at our blog post below:
https://www.nova-labs.org//post/happy-new-year-from-the-nova-labs-3-0-updates-team

Happy New Year, members and friends! What an amazing year this has been! We started off with a dream of NL3, and here we are, the proud owners of a 38k sqft building, with construction well underway, and weeks away from moving in. Thank you for your ongoing support and patience - it has been a bumpy...

12/26/2021

Why I Make at Nova Labs, with Karen J.

Karen J. has been a member at Nova Labs for close to 3 years - and while she thought she would eventually move back to her original home of Hawaii, the community at Nova Labs has caused her to reconsider (and we're happy she did, as she's leading the charge to pack boxes and get them moved to our new location in the City of Fairfax!)
Only a few days left in 2021, and our Capital Campaign - please visit https://www.nova-labs.org/capitalcampaign to make a donation today, and stay up to date on news for our move in January.

12/24/2021

$150K In Grant Funding To Help NOVA Labs Expand Mission At New Fairfax City Location

A little more background on some of the grants that Nova Labs has been receiving, helping us move from our Reston rental to our first home in the City of Fairfax.

Look for more milestone news about our Capital Campaign soon!

https://patch.com/virginia/fairfaxcity/150k-help-nova-labs-expand-mission-new-fairfax-location

Reston-based NOVA Labs received more than $150,000 in funding to help its expansion to a new Innovation Center in Fairfax City.