- April 29, 2026
- By Katherine Shaver
In the Mondawmin area of Baltimore, where half of children live below the poverty line, school students are using 3D printers, a laser cutter and woodworking tools to create with their hands—and discover their potential.
The cutting-edge manufacturing equipment in this newest Terrapin Works makerspace—the first located beyond the University of Maryland campus—is, like the 15 others, helping future engineers bring their ideas to life. But this one goes a step further by also helping to revitalize a neighborhood with new investment and a sense of possibility.
“I want to motivate West Baltimore students to want more and do more,” said India Alexander ’12, who leads the Baltimore makerspace’s community programming and curriculum development out of the A. James Clark School of Engineering’s civil and environmental engineering department.
Helping young people see what they can build, she added, “broadens the way they think about their future selves and what they’re capable of.”
Boosting West Baltimore residents’ self-confidence is exactly what Tim Regan ’77, president and CEO of construction firm Whiting-Turner, and his wife, Joanne, had in mind when they bought a shuttered Target store adjacent to the Mondawmin Mall in 2022. The couple had the 127,000-square-foot building renovated into The Village at Mondawmin, a community hub that provides a health clinic and senior center as meeting space for community groups that help local youth.
The Regans contributed funding for the village’s makerspace as a safe place for hands-on learning and discovery. Most participants at Terrapin Works Baltimore are in grades 3-12 and come through community programs in partnership with TouchPoint Baltimore, a nonprofit that Regan cofounded with Calvin Butler, then-CEO of BGE, to support residents.
Jim Zahniser ’93, M.S. ’99, the Clark School’s assistant dean for strategic operations and IT who oversees Terrapin Works, helped set up the Mondawmin site. He’s already witnessed its impact on children: “You can see the pride when they finish something they’ve made with their own hands.”
Manager Brian Palmer operates the facility about 20 hours a week, funded by a bequest from the late Charles A. Irish Sr., Whiting-Turner’s former chief operating officer. Plans include also using the space for adult job training programs.
Alexander said she wants makerspace users of all ages to see how engineering skills can help solve real-world problems. It’s why she’s helped students use the 3D printers to make miniature lacrosse sticks and a laser cutter to create signs for imagined new storefronts.
“Tell me what sparks joy for you,” Alexander asks participants. “Tell me what your interests are. Tell me what types of problems you want to solve, and I can tell you a field of engineering that can help you do that.”
Hands-on projects expose young learners to engineering and how it’s an integral part of their daily lives.
This story appears in the new Spring/Summer 2026 issue of Engineering at Maryland magazine. See the full issue now.
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Campus & Community