UTA Libraries Staff Spotlight: Morgan Chivers

The chance to foster creativity is what Morgan Chivers loves about his job as the FabLab Librarian with UTA Libraries. Chivers brings his background as a multidisciplinary artist as he helps students on projects daily.   

After graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Glass/Intermedia from UTA, Morgan joined the Libraries staff in the FabLab. The UTA FabLab, located on the first floor of the Central Library building, is an 8,000-square-foot maker space containing digital fabrication tools such as 3D printers, laser cutters, CNC routers, etc., and traditional analog tools such as printmaking equipment, kilns, woodworking saws, and sewing machines. The FabLab is open to all UTA students, faculty, and staff.   

"I was offered a position here to help change the culture from what had been a very engineering-centric space into one that was more pluralistic and welcoming to more people. So, I have been happy to help do that," Morgan said. "Since then, we have been hiring people from all sorts of different disciplines and backgrounds. I am most proud of establishing a training regime where we hire people with no prior experience required. That way when learners come in, and they are feeling intimidated, our staff can legitimately say, 'it's cool - I didn't know how to do any of this either until I got trained, and now, I can train you!'"  

Morgan has been a classroom teacher at a few various levels and still teaches as an adjunct professor at the university occasionally. What he likes the most about the FabLab is that he still gets to teach students, but there is not the same pressure students often feel when getting feedback from the same person who will ultimately grade their project. This environment facilitates more creative exploration to happen.  

"I am giving them a whole array of options, then they need to dive in and think about what they feel called to do," he said.   

He shared that having a resource like “the FabLab is an essential part of university life because it empowers students to complete projects beyond the classroom” and allows everyone to explore their imaginative side.  

"We do lots of curricular integrations, but the FabLab is fundamentally more than that; people can make stuff for their dorm and gifts for people they care about. They can work on entrepreneurial projects if they are trying to have a side hustle. They can literally make anything; so long as it is not a weapon, we will help them make it," Morgan said. "That means that people can follow their passions outside of what they are in the school formally to do and discover new aspects of themselves."  

Morgan wants to encourage people to stop by the FabLab and explore their creativity. He notes the only limit is their imagination.   

Questions about the Fab Lab can be emailed to fablab@uta.edu. Additional information about the Fab Lab can be found online at https://libraries.uta.edu/services/fablab.