Dublin Maker 2026: learning by doing, from traditional crafts to AI

Making in all its forms

From AI and advanced manufacturing to traditional crafts, repair and community makerspaces, Dublin Maker 2026 attracted 20,000 people to Leopardstown Racecourse, with 100 exhibits showcasing the breadth of making in Ireland. Billy Linehan reports from the two-day festival on how learning by doing brings STEM and STEAM to life.

Speaking at the end of the festival, Dublin Maker Coordinator Amy Hassett described it as “two days of absolutely jam-packed making”, with busy workshops, strong crowds and visitors getting involved throughout. Watch Dublin Maker’s 2026 event highlights.

A weekend of making, Dublin Maker 2026

Good weather helped, with Leopardstown’s indoor and outdoor spaces allowing visitors to move easily between 100 exhibits, demonstrations and workshops.

There was plenty to do as well as see. Robo-battles gave people of all ages the chance to try their hand at robo-wars, while popular workshops included making with cardboard, creating synth music and learning how to quilt.

The Open Fashion Show brought another dimension, showcasing more than 50 outfits, from cosplay and animal costumes to traditional Romanian garments and grandmother-and-granddaughter creations. A quiet area also proved popular, giving visitors somewhere to take a break before returning to the busy festival.

Dublin Maker is supported by Research Ireland, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, UCD and other sponsors and supporters, with TOG Hackerspace a core community partner. The event also draws on a long-standing group of volunteers who have helped build Dublin Maker over many years.

The breadth of making

What struck me most while talking to exhibitors and volunteers was just how broad that definition of making can be. A project combining assistance dogs and AI sat alongside biomedical and advanced manufacturing research, a student racing car, a Steampunk crafter, traditional French polishing and an uilleann pipe maker combining centuries-old craft skills with modern 3D design.

Underlying much of this was a common theme: learning by doing. Visitors were not simply looking at finished projects. They could meet the people behind them, ask questions and, in many cases, try making something themselves.

Learning by doing

One of the clearest examples of this came from Fingal Libraries Makerspace in Blanchardstown.

Librarian Anca Cerbu explained that the Makerspace offers activities including 3D printing, laser cutting, sewing, embroidery and repair workshops, with some workshops booking out within minutes.

Facilitator Andrew Carson described the Blanchardstown Makerspace as a place where technology and creativity come together.

“The Makerspace is kind of a space to explore creativity through STEAM, so science, technology, engineering, art and maths. My background, because it comes from art, is about empowering people through creativity.”

PawSense: AI, assistance dogs and epilepsy

At another stand I met Alan Smeaton, Professor of Computing at DCU, and the PawSense project, funded by Research Ireland.

PawSense brings together computing, AI, clinical expertise, analytical chemistry and trained assistance dogs. Smeaton explained that the dogs are trained to recognise the scent associated with an impending seizure and perform a particular movement detected by a sensor-equipped collar.

“The dog wears a collar which has got an IMU (inertial measurement unit) on it. It’s got a GPS and it’s got a SIM card. We basically built an AI algorithm onto the chip, and when it detects the motion, it then sends an alert with the GPS location saying, ‘Billy is about to have a seizure. This is the location.’”

The project is currently being used with three people who experience seizures, and the team is also learning from the dogs themselves.

The work also draws on expertise from the epilepsy clinic at Beaumont Hospital, Irish Dogs for the Disabled and analytical chemistry within DCU. Look out for PawSense at the National Ploughing Championship.

From 3D printing to biomedical implants

A few meters away, at the I-FORM (Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre) stand, Neha Agarwal and Merve Nur from DCU were demonstrating how additive manufacturing has moved far beyond the desktop 3D printers many visitors would recognise.

Among the components on display were examples connected with biomedical applications, including hip and knee implants. The researchers explained how additive manufacturing allows complex and highly customised components to be produced for medical applications, while the technologies are also being developed for aerospace, automotive and industrial uses.

This has particular relevance in Ireland, with its substantial medical-device manufacturing sector, connecting the accessible 3D printing seen elsewhere at Dublin Maker with sophisticated additive-manufacturing technologies being researched and used by industry.

Students putting STEM into practice

The UCD Formula Student team displayed the racing car that students have designed and built.

I spoke with Dara Alkhourie, who is studying Business and Law, Daniel Summers, who is studying Mechanical Engineering, and Rebecca MacDonald, who has completed a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering.

MacDonald is both a driver and powertrain engineer, describing the role as involving “a lot of electronic and electrical engineering and bits of everything else”.

The project demonstrates different disciplines working together around a practical challenge rather than remaining within separate academic subjects.

Passing on traditional skills

Dublin Maker is not simply about electronics, coding or advanced engineering.

At the Rediscovery Centre stand, Joanne Fetherston and Jason Clark were demonstrating French polishing and furniture restoration, skills they also teach through classes at the Rediscovery Centre.

“We do classes in the Rediscovery Centre. People will bring in an old piece of furniture, and it could be a piece that belongs to their parent or their grandparent. Then we go through the process with them. They do it themselves and we show them how.”

Repair and reuse also connected naturally with one of the wider trends identified by the Dublin Maker organisers this year.

Centuries-old craft meets modern design

That blend of traditional skill and modern technology was particularly evident at Kavanagh Irish Instruments, where I spoke with instrument maker Desmond Kavanagh.

“What I have trained in is making the uilleann pipes, the Irish bagpipes. I also make fiddles, I make bouzoukis, other string instruments on commission, and I do a lot of repair work too. For me, I love exploring design and making instruments that look as beautiful as they sound.”

Technology assists rather than replaces the underlying craft. Kavanagh uses 3D design to plan instruments and produce some of the tools needed to make them.

“Even though a lot of the methods to make these instruments have remained the same for hundreds of years, the tools have changed. So there are jobs that are made easier with modern technology.”

A full set of uilleann pipes can take at least three months to make, involving leatherwork, metalwork, woodwork, reed making and the skilled work of tuning and balancing the finished instrument.

Repair, sustainability and community

Repair and sustainability were among the trends noticed by the organisers.

“A lot of focus on repair and sustainability again this year. We saw that really take an uptake last year and it’s staying strong this year. I guess people are thinking about how they can use making as a way of preparing for the future.”

The community extends beyond individual projects. Makers travelled from Kerry, Clare, Sligo and Galway to take part, while the organisers also mentioned a family travelling from Spain.

The next generation of makers

Towards the end of the festival I spoke with Amy Hassett and long-term Dublin Maker volunteer Laura Tobin about what they had noticed over the weekend.

“One big trend I’ve noticed is a lot of makers have their kids at the stand,” Tobin said. “And the kids have their own projects. They’re not hanging around just with the parents.”

It illustrates one of the educational strengths of Dublin Maker. Children can see engineering, computing, crafts and science being practised, ask questions and frequently try something themselves.

The volunteers behind Dublin Maker

Dublin Maker began as an entirely voluntary effort. Funding has since allowed it to employ a full-time coordinator, but long-standing volunteers continue to play a major role.

Tobin described another, less visible function of the festival.

“I always say Dublin Maker is like a matchmaking service. Because you get people going, ‘Do you know who does this or that?’ Or I put people in touch because sometimes they don’t get to talk.”

That exchange of knowledge brings together researchers, students, craftspeople, hobbyists, educators, families and volunteers who may arrive with very different projects but are encouraged to share what they know.

Makers are everywhere

Dublin Maker is part of a much wider international maker community. Look out for further articles when Billy Linehan returns to Maker Faire Rome in October, following his previous coverage for Irish Tech News, to report on makers, researchers and innovators from Italy and around the world.

Billy Linehan

Billy Linehan is a freelance writer covering innovation, tech for good and entrepreneurship, and a regular contributor to Irish Tech News, covering events in Ireland and abroad.

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