Richard Clifford

CEO

Richard is responsible for the management and development of MAKLab across Scotland.  His work allows MAKLab to continue to grow and support the needs of communities, interest groups and partners across Scotland, the UK and Europe.

Richard's background is in architecture, having studied at Strathclyde University, Glasgow and the ETH in Zurich, Switzerland before working with prestigious architecture practices in Glasgow. He has also been involved with teaching at many design and architecture schools across the UK.

As the Executive Director, Richard drives design and making as a tool not only for making products but as a fundamental aspect of our education, Scotland’s economic growth, our cultural value and as a driver for social empowerment.

Richard has been involved in the development and formation of a number of social enterprises and charities across Scotland in the last three years. In parallel with his role at MAKLab he is also an Industry Advisor to Cultural Enterprise Office, a mentor with Vanilla Ink, a fellow of the RSA, a board member of Make Works and an associate of Cyclehack.

KIRSTY MOONEY

Operations Director
Location: Charing Cross, Glasgow

Kirsty oversees the implementation, efficiency and delivery of the MAKLab network, and our associated projects across Scotland and the UK.

Graduating from UWS with a degree in Digital Art and a background in Photoshop, film and Flash based animation, Kirsty has worked with a wide range of digital media over the years. Previously of Apple Inc. she is just as happy troubleshooting electronics as building furniture from recycled pallets.

She is very passionate about the persistence of knowledge and the links between social inclusion and peer to peer transfer of knowledge. A former member of Glasgow Roller Derby instilled in her a love of grass roots movements and a sense of pride in the achievements of like minded strong women.

Kirsty also likes plants.

Alan Rochead

Technical Director
Location: Commerce Street, Glasgow

Alan is responsible for the operation and management of MAKLab's manufacturing facility in Glasgow. He trained as a Mechatronic Engineer, and has wide ranging industry experience and a strong technical knowledge.  He explores projects from their inception, design of key components, the manufacturing process and through to the physical realisation.

Beside his personal interest in making and exploring new materials, Alan is also championing new techniques and processes throughout MAKLab.  He is interested in the blending of traditional and digital skills along with reciprocal learning and intergenerational skill transfer.  

Alan is a firm believer that informal teaching and sharing of skills is an important vehicle for social empowerment and equality. 

Mark Craig

Technical Manager
Location: Charing Cross, Glasgow

Mark is responsible for the technical training of our members and promoting best practice with the technologies in our spaces.  He also oversees the maintenance, development and innovation of equipment within our studio.

Mark is a Mechanical Engineer with CAD (Computer Aided Design) experience having spent years in industry and is self taught in electronics through his own projects.  In addition to electronics Mark enjoys building robots and light displays then programming them using Arduinos. 

He is always keen to pass on his knowledge through workshops, training courses and informal collaboration. Mark is also a member of the Glasgow Open Source Hardware Group.

SAMUEL SPARROW

Studio Manager
Location: Dumfries

Samuel is responsible for the management, operation and development of MAKLab Dumfries.

He has a background in Interior and Product Design, graduating from Glasgow School of Art in 2006 before working in London for homeware companies Habitat and Ikea.

In addition to his role with MAKLab, Samuel is also the owner and Creative Director at SPARROW AND CO. - a British homeware brand that promotes traditional making processes and celebrates the imperfect and inherent beauty that comes with functional, handmade products.

Delphine Dallison

Education & Outreach Coordinator
Location: Charing Cross, Glasgow

Delphine oversees our education and outreach programme, developing new workshops and events with our partners across Scotland. She also acts as Librarian for MAKLab on the Maker Library Network, through which she links to international organisations and maker spaces.  She is also responsible for the planning, support and scheduling of our local, national and international residency programme. 

Delphine worked in social care for 10 years before retraining at the Glasgow School of Art and graduating with a degree in Sculpture and Environmental Art. She has a strong interest in combining modern technologies with traditional making techniques as part of her practice as well as using printmaking and bookbinding techniques to create artists' books.

Delphine is driven by the principles of open knowledge, peer to peer learning and the open sharing of skills and knowledge. She strives on creating new opportunities to offer access to our equipment and resources to a wider demographic with the aim of empowering people through making.

Andrew Tibbles

Studio Mentor
Location: Charing Cross, Glasgow

Andrew provides support to our members and users of the studio to help them develop and prototype their ideas. He has a background in product design, graduating from DJCAD in 2012.

Andrew is also leading the design and curation of MAKLab's quarterly newspaper and exhibition window display, which showcases the activities of MAKLab, it's members and partner organisations.

He has strong expertise with the Adobe suite, primarily Illustrator for preparing files for the machines and Photoshop for photography and graphics. 

He is also interested in the creation and manufacturing of modern materials. On a considerable tangent, Death is a topic of interest too, from it's palliative care and the law to modern burial rituals and individuals philosophy on how death influences their life.

He is focused on being part of something that aims to do better by being an example and encouraging others to join in. 

Kate Pickering

Jewellery Mentor
Location: Charing Cross, Glasgow

Kate founded Vanilla Ink in 2009 with the goal to bridging the gap from education into industry. Knowing that it can be difficult to find your place within the ever changing landscape, Kate developed Vanilla Ink designed to support and promote jewellers in the early stages of their careers.

Having a degree in Jewellery herself, Kate understands the difficulties new designers face when setting up their own business and Kate wanted to create a space that allowed collaborations, mistakes and time to reflect.

Kate has established a teaching space alongside MAKLab and is keen to explore the ways in which the knowledge and expertise from the jewellery industry can cross into the wider maker movement.

Brutus

Motivational Manager
Location: Everywhere

Brutus is always on hand to keep you company in the studio and check out what you're having for lunch. We're yet to find out his design specialism, but...well, he's pretty good at chasing a tennis ball.  

Brutus is the boss of the MAKLab Dugs, and tries his best to keep the others under control. 

Particular favourites are sausages or rawhide chews.