Executive Director of Usful Glass and OPWL Alum Carlyn Blake ’04 is giving back. You can too!
Usful Glassworks, provides basic job skills and work experience to people who are trying to enter the workforce and become self sufficient. This business manufactures glassware from empty beer, liquor, and wine bottles provided by Boise residents and businesses. The trainees in the Usful Glassworks program learn on the job, working in all departments of this small manufacturing company.
Proceeds from selling their lovely re-purposed glassware helps fund their work. However, their products are so popular they can’t make enough to meet customer demand! If they can increase their production output to meet the demand for their products, they can increase their revenue and support more people in need of job training.
This is where Sr Design is helping. A team of ten students from Electrical, Materials, and Mechanical Engineering is developing a flame polishing machine, and processes for it, to increase their output of glassware enough to meet the demand for Usful Glassware now, and into the near future. The team launched a PonyUp crowdfunding campaign a few weeks ago to raise funds for this project, but we have a funding gap to fill to fully fund the project.