I traveled to Izmit, Turkey in the province of Koceali for 4 months to help set up a new workspace at the Seka Park Bilim Merkezi (Science Center). I was invited as a sub contractor/ambassador for the Exploratorium to refurbish 40 Explo exhibits, develop a functioning workshop, and help train the technical staff at the museum to start developing their own exhibits. The museum and workspace where built in what used to be the old machine shop for the Seka Paper factory. We had to make major renovations to the space and purchase new tools and materials for the shop which turned out to be much more difficult than we expected. Still the group persevered through all types of complications and setbacks, worked through the language barrier, and were able to leave the museum with a feeling of accomplishment. We were able to develop a functioning space for fabrication and exhibit development, we put the final touches on a wing of the museum gallery, and we assisted in the completion of the first three science exhibits to be made in Turkey.
Some photos posted are from the blogs of Dave Johnson and Kua Patten. The pictures are in chronological order from the beginning to end of the project, Nov 2014 - March 2015.