“We’re just getting started. The best is yet to come.” says Eric Sigler of the group HackRolla! Officially banded together in January of 2010, the group is growing in size and scope quickly.

HackRolla! is a Rolla based organization hoping to cater to the needs of motivated tinkerers. Involved thus far are S&T students and staff, with the desire that anybody in Rolla can utilize the work space and tools provided with a membership plan.

A hackerspace is a real, physical place that acts as an open forum, machine shop, or social lounge, among other utilizations, for the community in which they are located. HackRolla! is now renting a building near the down town Rolla area to use as its work space. As of this past weekend, the organization Rollanet is supplying the HackRolla! facilities with internet service.

Normal hours for use by members are Monday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 6-8 PM, and also when a full member is present. Weekly, public, meetings and BBQ’s are held on Sunday evenings at 6:00 PM, and several members and non-members meet on select Friday evenings for a game night.

This Saturday, April 10, 2010, at 5:00 PM, the group is holding an open house to showcase their newly acquired work-space and anybody the least bit interested is invited to attend. HackRolla!’s facilities are located at 410 N. Elm St. in Rolla.

Currently, the group has several permanent tools purchased, and the members are in discussions about what new tools to purchase with the membership dues to date. HackRolla! hopes most to cater to the needs of the Rolla community, and therefore input about the Rolla community’s needs is desired for the determination of where to take the hackerspace in terms of obtainable resources.

The need for a community hackerspace was recognized several semesters ago by the HackRolla! organizers. Students, new and old, and members of the Rolla community undertaking any kind of project without access to a work-shop environment may be incapable of realizing their projects.

Familiar themselves with the lack of usable work space, for personal or group projects, in Rolla, HackRolla!’s founders agreed to make available the resources needed to complete a project. With increased funding for student design teams at S&T, HackRolla! hopes that the rise indicates an increased interest in hands-on working, learning, and creative collaboration.

A primary objective of HackRolla! is to expand the know-how and skills of its members, as well as community members. An initial area of focus for their newly acquired facilities will be a classroom style area. This area will be utilized by HackRolla! or its affiliates to offer classes to Rolla’s community members. Early classes offered by HackRolla! will focus on soldering, computer programming, photography, and any others that the members of HackRolla! are interested in organizing or hosting.

HackRolla! is exploring the possibility of participating in the Hackerspaces in Space challenge. Issued by Workspace 88, a hackerspace out of Chicago, the Hackerspaces in Space challenges hackerspaces around the world to send a balloon high into near (as opposed to outer) space carrying a camera. The goal is to capture pictures of Earth’s horizon and then retrieve the balloon.

More interest in the Hackerspaces in Space challenge is hoped for before a commitment is to be made by the HackRolla! group.

HackRolla! is a non-profit organization. No one involved receives any salary, and all revenue the group encounters will be used to improve their resource inventory, to fund group projects, and to pay the bills associated with their building. The group has no formal relationship with the University, and as such HackRolla! members maintain any and all legal rights for their creations.

HackRolla! hosts game nights, at which food is grilled for the members and attendees. Information about HackRolla!’s events can generally be found at their website, http://hackrolla.com/, and more specifics about their activities can be learned about by searching facebook.com for their group, Hack Rolla!.