Celebrating a Decade of Prototyping:
Hackspace Turns Ten
Hackspace was established in 2014 to remove barriers to prototyping and accelerate product development at Imperial
In 2014, Imperial launched Advanced Hackspace in White City with a vision to offer our maker community a dedicated facility to bring their ideas to life and progress from an initial idea to a working prototype. The goal was clear: to remove barriers to prototyping and accelerate product development through access toΒ cutting-edge tools and methods in a supportive and inclusive learning environment.Β Β
Now, 10 years later, Hackspace has become a hotbed of innovation with a thriving community of over 4,000 members drawn from across Imperialβs faculties and extra-curricular societies. We enable students and staff to engage in making and prototyping as part of their academic studies and personal projects, whether venture-related or just for the enjoyment of making and crafting as a hobby. Β
A Wealth of Knowledge Under One Roof
Throughout the years, our staffβs dedication and expertise have been the driving force behind Hackspace, helping to solve design challenges and unlock the potential of innovative ideas.The facility is run by a dedicated, multi-skilled team that has played a crucial role in shaping prototyping at Imperial by bringing together knowledge in industrial design, hardware, software and mechanical engineering, microfluidics, electrophysiologyΒ and bioengineering amongst other disciplines. Meet our team here.Β
Reflecting on our journey, Hackspace Fellow Eifion Nightingale, who has been with us since the very beginning, comments:
“Since day one, Hackspace has been about removing barriers – not just to prototyping, but also to ambition. Over the past decade, it’s been incredibly rewarding to see great ideas transform into innovations that make a real difference in the world. Itβs exciting to see our talented community continue to grow, collaborate, and push boundaries as we look ahead to the next decade.”Β
Our Award-Winning Programme: “Hackstarter”
Running alongside academic teaching and community building is our award-winning innovation support. βHackstarterβ helps early-stage entrepreneurial ideas take shape with a targeted package of Β£500 in fundingΒ per project, access to facilities and know-how. At the end of the programme, the winning team receives additional monies to progress their solution coupled with further 1-to-1 staff support.Β Β
Hackstarterβs track-record in nurturing great ideas into real-world impact has recently achieved national recognition by winning a prestigious Knowledge Exchange awardΒ in the βHighly Commendedβ category.
Hackstarter has played a key role in theΒ innovation journey of several local startups, providing a launchpad forΒ notable climate and medtec solutions including Koalaa, a supplier of affordable prosthetics which has closed a funding round of $1.2 million this year, and biotech scaleup Multus, which received a USD$9.5m Series A investment to accelerate cultivated meat production as a sustainable food solution.Β Hackstarterβs 2023 winner Papcup, a non-invasive cervical smear test alternative, has recently secured support from Innovate UK, the Medical Research Council and Cancer Research UKβs innovation arm, and attracted prominent media coverage from the Telegraph and the BBC for its revolutionary potential.Β
Watch our video to learn more about the impact of Hackstarter and meet some of the founders who have benefitted. This won the public vote in the 2024 PraxisAuril Knowledge Exchange Awards!
Hackspace’s Ten Year Celebrations
Our ten year anniversary was marked by a community event bringing together Hackspaceβs founding team Professor Oscar Ces (Head of Chemistry) and Nick Jones (Professor of Mathematical Sciences), alongside Head of Prototyping and Incubation Spaces Graham Hewson, Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise) Mary Ryan, Hackfellows and other Imperial colleagues.
We were also joined by inspiring startup founders including Emma Money of carbon capture coating technology Cyanoskin and Cai Linton of Multus, who both spoke about the valuable role that Haskspace played in their startup journeys, together with previous Hackstarter winners.
The universityβs student team competing in the Shell Eco-marathon team demonstrated their energy efficient vehicle and explained how they plan to enhance its performance with further design iterations. Shell Eco-marathon is a global academic programme focused on energy optimisation and one of the worldβs leading student engineering competitions.
Hackspace has built an extraordinary legacy over its first decade: from sustainable transport solutions to carbon-absorbing paint; from the worldβs first gyroscope-enabled medical device to pioneering innovations in food hygiene and compostable packaging. And this is just the beginning – weβre excited for the life-changing innovations and new discoveries that the future holds.
Support Hackstarter in 2025
Imperial is offering an exciting opportunity to sponsor this year’s Hackstarter competition and build a relationship with a nationally recognised, award-winning innovation and prototyping programme. To be part of our next chapter, contact us.
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