Bob worked in the telecommunications industry as an engineer for 30 years before retiring in 1999. He loves working with electronics.

So, when he came across Neil Squire’s Makers Making Change (new window) program at an event at the Coquitlam Public Library (new window) earlier this year, it quickly piqued his interest. He did some soldering at the event, and decided he wanted to get involved.

Since then, Bob’s been a dedicated volunteer. He’s been building devices and hacking toys, as well as doing quality control work — testing devices that were made at build events and fixing them if they don’t work.

He laughs remembering having to check a few switches made at a recent event.

“I don’t know how to work them. I know there’s the instructions, there’s the parts, I’ll build one,” he shares. “I made every mistake in the book.

“But it helped, I know how it all goes together, and where the pitfalls are, because I made every one.”

He’s also taken on a couple of design projects on his own.

Bob is working on modifying a design for an automatic water bottle (new window) that allows you to pump water by pressing a switch rather than needing to pick up the bottle — which allows persons with disabilities like spinal cord injuries to drink water independently. He’s trying to find a way to make it easier to be built and replicated by other makers.

He’s been enjoying his time volunteering with Makers Making Change, regularly popping into our Burnaby office to put in a few hours a week.

“It’s the electronics that’s really of interest to me, and also the ability to design stuff, to figure out, well, here’s the problem and how can we attack it?” he says.

“If it helps somebody, I’m glad to do it.”

This post originally appeared on the Makers Making Change(new window) website.