Bringing ideas into reality with objects you have (or can get): photolithography, cigar box guitars, Arduino circuit designs, scooters. Things you actually touch (not concepts visualized on your mobile phone), using technology available. Because you make stuff, it’s called the Maker Movement; but the creations are a lot more original than the name.
Makers are amateur tinkerers, electronics hobbyists, engineering students. Projects ( http://makeprojects.com/ ) are small, filling the little, interesting gaps in the world: home automation, a pedometer with Web-enabled navigation, making cell phones into remote controllers, robots that perform useful tasks. Makers exhibit and trade ideas at Maker Faires ( http://makerfaire.com/ ; find “Maker Faire” on Facebook) and network informally. Related activities are at Situ Studio ( http://www.situstudio.com/blog/ ) and the MIT Media Lab ( http://media.mit.edu/research/groups/high-low-tech ); but most Makers are proudly small-scale, often solo. An article in VentureBeat ( http://venturebeat.com/2012/05/22/the-maker-movement-starts-to-attract-venture-capital/ ) explores the “next step” of venture capital, but it’s more useful as a description of the Maker Movement.
SEL’s subscription to MAKE magazine ( http://makezine.com/magazine/ ) begins January 2013. MAKE features ideas of all kinds as well as covering Maker Faires. It could be a source of undergraduate project ideas. Unfortunately the Library can’t arrange an electronic subscription, so it will be in hard copy on the SEL periodical shelves.