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Functional Fun Danny Schieble, left, and Titus Kings hold na Imperial Class Star Destroyer made out of tape during the Mini Maker Faire at ScienceWorks in Ashland on Saturday. Mail Tribune / Jamie Lusch Saturday Nov 19, 2016 at 6:30 PM Nov 19, 2016 at 6:30 PM Nick Morgan Mail Tribune @mtcrimebeat Handling genuine padlocks, handcuffs and picks on Saturday, it was inevitable that homeschooled fifth-grader Kai Alexander-Fix would find himself literally stuck. In the moment Nick "Lock-pick Nick" Benedetti with Rogue Hack Lab looked away, Alexander-Fix latched a handcuff around his wrist while trying to learn how to pick it open. For safety's sake Benedetti resorted to his handy key. The exhibit was just one of 50 at ScienceWorks on Saturday for the first Rogue Valley Mini-Maker Faire event, giving people of all ages introductions to real tools both high- and low-tech, and boundless ways to take advantage of them. Some demonstrations were practical approaches to specific challenges, such as Ashland High School's robotics club, which demonstrated their basketball-throwing robot controlled via WiFi. Ashland High School sophomore Quinn Morell said the team started with slotted aluminum framing as part of a competition issued by nonprofit For Inspiration of Science and Technology or "FIRST," challenging teams in a 3-on-3 robot basketball competition. Fellow sophomore Eli Dejack was particularly proud of the backspin his team engineered into the robot, ensuring the ball goes into the net every time. "There's a lot of teamwork involved," Dejack said. AHS senior Jineva Hargravey-Radford said she's been part of the club for two years, and hopes to pass along her knowledge of science, technology and mathematics to future generations as a teacher. "My main thing is STEM education," Hargravey-Radford said. "That's what I love doing." Among the more whimsical demonstrations was artist Tom Sepe's "Whirlygig" steam-electric hybrid motorcycle, designed in the science-fiction "Steampunk" style, melding modern and 19th century styles and technology. "It does about 100 smiles per hour," Sepe said, quipping that it's also a time machine that travels roughly one second per second into the future. Sepe, who recently relocated to Medford from Oakland, said he enjoys building "all kinds of contraptions." To create the steam boiler on the machine, Sepe repurposed a fire hydrant and built onto the machine from there.  He said he wants the Whirlygig to show people that electric vehicles don't need to be utilitarian. "This is to show that electric vehicles can be cool as well as functional," Sepe said. Seth Morgan with Rogue Hack Lab showed kids how a 3D printer works by handing them a 3D-modeling pen, a device similar to a hot glue gun that uses 3D-printer filament, to make their own designs. Morgan also showcased the types of things a 3D printer could make with limited knowledge of the software designers typically use, drawing from the Thingiverse website allowing users to download others' uploaded designs. "I have hardly any CAD knowledge and I can do this," Morgan said. Showcasing a creative use of 3D-printers was Zachary Pearson of Ashland, who uses 3D printed characters and sets he made to create stop-motion animation videos, created from painstakingly photographing figurines and moving set-pieces. He showcases his work on his YouTube channel Zaniac Pictures. Inspired by the work of Oregon-based Laika studios, Pearson said he's drawn to the tangible, fluid nature of stop-motion animation, and the creative use of his computer science and electrical engineering background. "I really like storytelling," Pearson said. Festival director Gregory Dills said the event is much larger than the TinkerFest events held at ScienceWorks before. Dills didn't have a head count, but said he anticipated 2,000 participants. The Ashland event was the fourth event in Oregon organized in partnership with Make Magazine, and about 200 have been held worldwide since 2006, according to Dills.  "It's a movement that's really coming together," Dills said. — Reach reporter Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MTCrimeBeat.