UA Little Rock’s Trojan Forge a New Space for Collaboration and Community

Trojan Forge, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s new makerspace, will encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration among students, providing them access to high-level technology and equipment in a communal space open to all. 

It will develop the next generation of the state’s workforce through hands-on learning and teamwork, said Chancellor Christina S. Drale. From faculty and staff, to students and community members — seasoned experts to eager neophytes — “this workshop is for you to expand your horizons.” 

Trojan Forge, which had its grand opening August 25, features a handful of 3D printers, a sewing machine, heat presses, sublimation printers, embroidery machines, vinyl cutters, a buttonmaker, a laminator, a soldering iron kit, cameras, a sound booth and podcast studio, and various crafting supplies, among other offerings. The opening of Trojan Forge was one of many Welcome Week events on campus marking the start of the 2026-27 school year, as the university celebrates its 100th anniversary.

Located in Ottenheimer Library, Trojan Forge fulfills the university’s goals of access, experience, attainment, research, and community engagement, and “you can’t get much better than that,” Drale noted during Tuesday’s ribbon cutting ceremony. Dedicated to professional readiness, Trojan Forge will help students gain the confidence and develop the skills necessary to enhance their career prospects. 

Roughly a year ago, a prototype event engaged more than 200 students, demonstrating the desire for a space like this that would not only offer unique tools, but act as a gathering spot, said Brandon Sollars, Learning Commons coordinator.  “We want them to feel inspired to create and innovate.” 

Members of the Ottenheimer Library Vision Partners Program — student ambassadors and partners for the campus library — were critical in the development of Trojan Forge. 

“I enjoy the idea of students creating something for students, and this group doesn’t just advocate for students, but does real work,” such as the Trojan Forge project, said junior Ella Campbell, who became a Vision Partner in January 2025. “We had a makerspace at my high school” — the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts (ASMSA) in Hot Springs — “that so many people used, (not only) as a place where people came to create things, but (find) community, and I thought, ‘I’d love to see a space like that on campus here.'” 

There can never be enough ways for a campus community to gather together, so “any space that does that is amazing, and needed,” said Campbell, a native of the Hot Springs area majoring in environmental geology and anthropology. “I’m really excited to see the space evolve” as campus and community members find variegated uses for the tools inside, and more equipment gets added via requests. 

The 3D printers will “definitely” be highly popular, as they offer “so many different uses, and anyone can use them,” but Campbell is most intrigued by the sewing machine, she said. “I’m an amateur sewist, but I really love the buttonmaker, too.” 

Trojan Forge also received a $5,000 grant from Trojan Champions Fund to “kickstart all the amazing projects we’re going to have,” Sollars said. “We’re going to invite faculty, staff, and students to pitch ideas, and then we’ll fund materials for those projects” with the grant money. 

The better experiences students have on campus, the more likely they are to become involved alumni after graduation, so the grant is an investment in the present and the future, noted Guy Choate, president of the Alumni Association. A makerspace like Trojan Forge is “a differentiator” for UA Little Rock, so helping fund it is “a no-brainer for us,” and it contributes “the cycle of building a better university.” 

Trojan Forge will also engage the larger community with various monthly themes that invite use of its equipment and technology. 

“We want to develop 12 months of programming” to offer throughout this centennial celebration year of UA Little Rock, and far into the future, Sollars noted. “We’re going to start in September with a 3D printing workshop,” with additional details on that event — and others — available on the Trojan Forge website.