Godwyn Morris: “I Taught Myself By Watching And Learning From Others”

Godwyn Morris is the Director of two programs in New York City, Dazzling Discoveries, a STEAM education center for grade school age children and Skill Mill NYC a “maker space” facility for adults and teens.

Godwyn has been working and creating with educators and children for more than 20 years. She is an advocate making, mixing, trying, testing and playing, all with the aim of teaching creative thinking and problem solving skills to kids and adults. She works with hundreds of students and teachers every year in classes, camps and professional development workshops. Her expertise is helping educators bridge the gap between teaching content and expanding hands on exploration.

Nora Toure: Godwyn, could you let us know about your background and your journey to Additive Manufacturing? 

Godwyn Morris: I have created and run several different businesses over the years, all of which incorporated the newest technology of the time. From a software company in the late 1980s to 3D printing & laser cutting service business currently, I have always found technology trends fascinating and have been able to build businesses based on them. 

At this point in my career, I can say that I am a serial entrepreneur. My first business was helping companies and nonprofit organizations publish newsletters. That business led me to consumer software development, which in the late 1980s was a technology in its infancy. I sold that in the 1990s and started a business focused on children, toys and education. That morphed into one of my current businesses, Dazzling Discoveries STEM Education Center, which I started in 2002, and then Skill Mill NYC which we opened in 2016. 

Nora Toure: What are Dazzling Discoveries and Skill Mill NYC and what are the stories behind them? 

Godwyn Morris: In 2002 I created a science and engineering program focused on hands on learning activities for children and named it Dazzling Discoveries. The terms “makerspace”, “makers” and ”STEM” were not part of anyone’s vocabulary at that point, yet that is exactly what I was doing. I was a bit ahead of the trend. I learned about, and started using, consumer friendly 3D printers and Tinkercad software as soon as they became available. 

Just as I had with all my other ventures, I taught myself by watching and learning from others. I was an early subscriber to Make magazine, talked to experts and bought my first 3D printers in 2014 (Makerbot Replicator 2; I have 3 of them and we are still using them today). At that point I began teaching kids and adults how to use Tinkercad and 3D printing and it is still one of the more popular activities we offer.

Dazzling Discoveries, my STEM program for kids, is a year round day camp and after school program. In 2016 I saw the beginning of a market for digital design, 3D printing and laser cutting services for the general public so I expanded and opened Skill Mill NYC for teens and adults. In addition to all that I recently launched a product line of cardboard and paper engineering kits called Dazzlinks. 

Read the rest at Women in 3D Printing