This page contains the list of nominees with submitted bios and pictures for the 2020 Quelab Board of Directors' election. Content on this page will be updated as nominations are confirmed throughout the month.

Nominations closed at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, February 8th, 2020. We are still awaiting a reply from one or two of the nominees, whether they accept the nomination or not.

The election is scheduled for February 16th, 2020, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Quelab & the Board will be providing food.

Here are your nominees:

• Alex Westrick
• Bill Kriegh
• Charel Morris
• Craig "Zoot" Goldsmith
• Darrel Knutson
• Denis Muradov
• Hugh Hulse
• JJ Salley

Thank you for the nomination to the Quelab Board of Directors. I joined Quelab a couple of years ago with the goal of starting a hobby that I didn’t “have to do” and would therefore enjoy; or so the logic went. What I am coming to find since joining Quelab however, is that starting a new hobby and enjoying it, is more of a prolonged journey than a short and discrete event. Like most Quelab members, I am a constant fixer and tinkerer. I enjoy most things mechanical, electrical, chemical, and I have an appreciation of the hard work done by others, in so many other fields!

I love the Quelab people and enjoy the Quelab vibe/energy. I recognize that Quelab only works because of its’ members and their participation in the Quelab organization.

If elected, I will work to continue the advancement of Quelab as a Maker organization to the best of my abilities.

I am running for a Board of Directors seat because I’m interested in seeing the organization grow and become a place more folks can call “my home away from home maker space”. I was appointed Quelab Secretary in October and wish to participate more in this facet of the organization. I‘ve been interested in sparktrickery ever since I stuck a knife from a silver flatware set into the control panel of my grandmother’s electric stove and burned the blade in two at the ripe old age of 3 years. I’ve dabbled in the field in some fashion or another since. My experience includes doing tool and die work and general maintenance at a place that made electronic components for Western Electric, owned and operated an electric motor rewinding business, worked for Colo DOT in the traffic signal/electrical maint. part of traffic division – 6 ½ years as a supervisor..

I ran my own business as an electrical contractor and have been a Colorado Licensed master electrician for 28 years.

I retired and moved to New Mexico 6 years ago to be with my high school sweetie and will be firmly anchored here for quite a while.

My interests are varied and among them is electronic tinkering and model railroading.

A Quelab member since 2012, serving as officer & director since 2014. Founding director of ABQ Maker Faire. My making is more arts than tech such as hand drums, sacred masks, altars, worked with gourds and various mixed media pieces to creating workshops, retreats, live events, concerts, recording engineer and producer. My focus is on building our maker community at Quelab and in this region. Quelab has an important year ahead with key decisions and looking for opportunities to expand our community and bring in some more cool tools to play with. I have spent the last 20+ years working with Hackers – DEF CON and Open Source Developers – ApacheCon and in this time I have come to understand the power and some of the pitfalls that are a part of growing a community of makers of all sorts.

Craig Goldsmith (aka “Zoot”) is a designer, coder, maker and trained philosopher. He is a core organizer of Albuquerque Mini Maker Faire and board member of the same organization since Autumn 2013.

A full member of Quelab since May 2014, he previously served on the Quelab Board of Directors from February 2016 to February 2018, and is the current lasercutter officer.

He seeks to maintain and enhance Quelab's stature as a member-driven makerspace, and that Quelab continues to be utterly responsive to the economic and practical needs of its members: consensus decision-making, non-draconian policies, unfettered access to the space.

I am a candidate for the board because after being a vocal critic for years I am willing to stand up and try to make the board a more responsive and functional group. As a member I would work to make the board more like the guidance group it should be and get it out of the day-to-day operations managers it seems to have become. The board appoints the officers who should be doing the actual management with the president and other officers having actual control.

I was taught by me dad to try and learn new things and to get involved at a very early age. Since then I have been a “hacker” all of my life with an emphasis on woodworking and learning what I needed to do what I wanted. I love the Quelab because as I tell people, it is an adult playhouse. It has the tools members can use to learn and make things to their hearts desire. More importantly, it has a diverse membership of people with the knowledge and desire to help other people learn and “do”. I have donated a lot of tools and time to help expand the capabilities of Quelab and will continue to do so. I would like to see us return to having classes, both paid and free, to teach members new skills and most importantly, retain members to grow the organization.

My background as a retired US Air Force pilot and computer systems engineer has taught me that skills you learn at any age help you explore and grow in other areas.

I joined Quelab a couple years ago. When I saw the Machine Shop that Eric Lee set up I was hooked. I have since taken over the Machine Shop. Currently I maintain the machinery and train members on the use of the machine shop. I brought in a few machines myself and I am currently (still) refurbishing two of them.

My main drive is to make things, whatever it may be. I have been making things in the woodshop, the machine shop and the darkroom. In time I will eventually get through all of my projects - in a couple of decades.

As a board member I would seek to keep Quelab as a space for the do-it-yourself community. I want to see Quelab increase in membership. I believe this will keep the flow of new ideas, talent and the passion of the doing-it-yourself way going.

Thank you Quelab, for this nomination to the Board. As a bit of introduction for those of you that don’t know me, I am an avid tinkerer/maker and am endlessly interested in building and modifying pretty much anything. I am a Bicycle Mechanic, and currently manage the Esperanza Bike Shop here in Albuquerque. I have been interested in bikes since childhood, and now get a huge amount of satisfaction from building/modifying bikes that can increase accessibility for all people.

I have also worked as a GIS (Geographic Information System) tech, an ecology tech (mostly working on vegetation studies/mapping), and I also served in the Army as an Infantryman and a tank driver.

I came to Quelab through a love of film photography, but also have a background in sewing and woodworking, and a bunch of other stuff.

Thank you again for this nomination, and if elected, I will work to continue the mission of this remarkable organization to the best of my ability.

Thank you so much for the nomination. I know a lot of you and y’all know me, but if you don't…

I have lived in California, Missouri, Texas, Washington state, and now New Mexico. I have formally studied sociology, psychology, and computer science, have my General Amateur Radio License, several CompTia certifications including the Security+ and I enjoy making stuff. I tend to enjoy electronics and crafty projects. I helped organize some events for Quelab last year and I am currently the Fiber Arts steward. I also run a couple of small homeschool groups and the Albuquerque security group (DC505) that meets at Quelab.

I first encountered Quelab years ago while soldering at the Albuquerque Mini Maker Faire. I spent almost the entire day there and then returned to solder projects the entire second day. I started visiting Quelab whenever I was in ABQ and got to know the place better. I met Eric in the machine shop, Bandit gave my family a tour while talking about NMT, and I spent all kinds of time chatting with Morgan while working on electronic projects. I knew that if I ever moved to ABQ, I would join Quelab the day I got here…and I did.

I would love to impact Quelab on a bigger scale and can do so by being on the board. I know there are so many amazing members that have been nominated and choosing someone for the board is a big decision. I would appreciate your vote and will try my best to do the best thing for Quelab. :D