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Its not everyday that space heroes turn up in Northland touting their own 3D printed gun. But that’s Wayne Carroll, Northland’s leading Maker Space leader and Cosplay expert.
Wayne is also now a multi-award winner. He has won a technical prize in Northland’s Bernina Fashion Awards and a Cosplay Technical Award at Auckland’s Armageddon in 2017 (for his Marcus Fenix Gears of War Cosplay). His winning costume ( featuring his awesome 3D printed gun) is currently displayed in Whangarei Museum/Kiwi North.
Wayne is, by his own words, “addicted to creativity” – he cannot get enough of it. He is also passionate about igniting creativity in others, both in his day role as a secondary teacher at Excellere College (Whangarei) but also in his locally famous Wayne’s Workshops. The motto on his website nicely sums this up: “Don’t just sit there do something!”
And ‘do’ his does. Almost every night of the week is dedicated to hosting microcontroller enthusiasts, cosplay obsessives and everyone in between. Tech Tuesdays, Workshop Wednesdays, Thing Thursdays have become a meeting place for many individuals who sometimes struggle to meet like-minded others or have a vision and need some help realising it. While Wayne dedicates most of his evenings to supporting others in his home space, “Me Mondays” remain Wayne’s own tinkering time, allowing him to become a nationally recognised figure in the Cosplay Movement.
His workshops have circuits, foam and fabric intermingled and bring together a number of different kinds of people with varied interests in Creative Technology. Wayne’s warm enthusiasm is infectious and seeing him in one of his intricately designed costumes is inspiring – particularly when you see the innovative combinations of traditional technologies such as sewing, mixed with emerging technologies such as 3D printing. When a cosplay person say’s that’s impossible Wayne says “Believe it and you can achieve it!” This attitude was passed to him from his dad who was always tinkering and making. As Wayne says: it’s better to learn from trying than not trying at all!
For Wayne, Whangarei is a making/creating hub of activity and getting together to share our knowledge and experiences is essential.
Its great to have him as an exemplar within our burgeoning Creative Technology Sector. For more information go to Wayne’s Workshops at https://www.tameion.co.nz
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