Coby Unger joins the Olin community this summer as Senior Shop Manager and Instructor of Fabrication.
The power to manipulate and improve the objects around us is a reminder that we have the ability to make the world a better place.
Coby Unger
Senior Shop Manager and Instructor of Fabrication
View Coby's BioQ: Share a little bit about your background and how you came to be at Olin.
A: When I was a kid, my mom was a teacher and my dad was a carpenter, I fell somewhere in between. After studying industrial design, I have been lucky to work in highly hands-on-oriented jobs. After college I worked for about a year at Autodesk’s Pier 9 workshop in San Francisco as an artist in residence and as part of the shop staff and in-house design studio. I then spent a year in southern India designing cooking stoves before buying a rickshaw and moving to Mumbai where I helped convert it into a mobile classroom for teaching hands-on building workshops for kids. For the last 8 years, before starting at Olin, I managed the Hobby Shop at MIT where I taught members from across the MIT community in a wide variety of fabrication machines and techniques.
Q: What will you be teaching at Olin?
A: I am excited to join the Shop staff at Olin and begin teaching Fundamentals of Machine Shop Operation. My version of FOMSO will focus on making machinist tools that students will be able to take with them and hopefully make use of throughout their careers.
Q: What are you looking forward to and hoping to accomplish at Olin?
A: One of the key aspects of Olin that really appeals to me is the focus on hands-on learning and the accessibility of the Shop to all students. I’m hoping to continue fostering that spirit and encouraging students to explore and learn thorough building tangible objects.
Q: What is your philosophy when it comes to fabrication?
A: I believe we all have a lot to gain through hands-on building. Working in the shop teaches valuable skills for an engineering career, but I also believe it teaches us to be better people. The power to manipulate and improve the objects around us is a reminder that we have the ability to make the world a better place. Building and making things is a reminder of our unique place in the world.
Q: Describe a project you’re particularly proud of.
A: It’s hard to pick just one thing. The two wooden zoetropes I’ve made are pretty fun. Each has a 12-frame animation around a cylindrical vessel that spins to create the illusion of motion. One uses a strobe to display each frame, and the other utilizes a series of mirrors.
Q: What do you like to do for fun in your free time?
A: When not in the Olin shop, you can find me in my home shop, sewing custom shirts, walking my dog, or working with my wife on our small garlic farm.
Q: Oliners can ask me _________?
A: Why do you grow so much garlic? Does CNC technology belong in the art and craft world? What is your current favorite shop tool?
Q: Oliners can remind me ________?
A: Is that an Olin acronym you are using or a slang term I’m unfamiliar with?