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OVERSEAS NEWS - ONTARIO
Maker Bus kickstarts creativity
An after-school mobile classroom is
teaching kids a host of hands-on skills
»»Engaging kids in handson activities after school is
not always easy. But thanks to
one after-school programme
in Southwestern Ontario
in Canada, youngsters are
learning how to pick locks.
But this is not about teaching
kids to become criminals – it
aims to teach them how to
use their brains, hands and
tools to combine creativity and
technology – puzzle solving.
At just 10 years old, Kyle
Desiardine can pick a front
door lock in minutes flat.
But he can also recite the
two rules of lock picking:
never pick a lock without
permission, and never break
the law.
Kyle is one of several
youngsters aged eight to 12
who are enjoying a supervised
after-school programme that
gives them hands-on activities
once a week. It is run by the
Maker Bus, a mobile hacker
and maker space. The Maker
Bus is a mobile classroom
that travels throughout
Southwestern Ontario
to libraries, schools and
community events, spreading
a love of hands-on projects,
hacking and making. To date
in the eight-week after-school
programme, kids have created
a maze out of cardboard,
played with circuit boards and
built mini-robots.
Picking a lock is a matter
of learning how a lock works,
then being able to move a
pick “softly and eloquently,”
said Matt Ward, a former
locksmith who now works at
Western University’s faculty
of information and media
studies. “One of these kids
picked a lock that came from
my front door.”
‘solving a puzzle’
There are five levels of
locks, from two to five.
“Within five minutes these
kids had broken into the
first level of lock,” said Kim
Martin, one of the founders
of the Maker Bus and a PhD
candidate at Western. “It’s like
solving a puzzle.”
Living up to their claims - Brisant Secure
Many customers claim to be different. Many companies claim to “listen
to their customers”. But not all of them live up to their claims.
»»From the start,
Brisant Secure has aimed
its service at locksmiths,
listening to what they want
and responding to their needs
by delivering quality, welldesigned products that are
tried and tested efficiently and
quickly.
Brisant has grown its
business not by hardsell,
but by making sure that its
locksmith customers keep
coming back – simply because
they can get precisely what
they need when they need it.
They design locks that
locksmiths say they want
and also make other popular
brand locks easily available.
They test everything they sell
in their own BS/MLA test
environment (the company
is an Affiliate member of the
MLA & BSI member), offer
online ordering and deliver
fast, next day DPD secure
service for orders made before
4pm. Texted delivery times
keep customers informed.
The range of products is
impressive but you won’t find
them in national DIY stores
or major internet retailers
because Brisant works entirely
with locksmiths themselves.
You can, for example, choose
from four different ranges of
Brisant cylinder - from the ever
popular Brisant-E to the test
beating - Ultion. Catering for
half lock, rim lock, padlock,
and thumbturn is further
demonstration of Brisant
understanding and delivering
on the needs of the locksmith
in today’s fast-moving
market.
‘check out the
website and
prepare to be
impressed’
Brisant understands how
important it is that locksmiths
always have a lock to suit every
eventuality, but they also
understand that it is equally
important not to tie up too
much precious cash with stock
in the van. That’s why Brisant
locks have a clever dual-colour
design – cutting the amount
locksmithjournal.co.uk | MAY/JUN 2015
Sponsored by ASSA ABLOY
of stock you need in half. And
then, by putting the unbeaten
security features in both sides
of the lock you halve your
stock again not having to buy
and carry ‘handed’ anti-snap
locks. It takes 100 normal antisnap locks to do what you can
do with 25 Brisant.
As well as its own website
(www.brisant-secure.com),
Brisant has also created a
website VISIT LOCK ADVISOR
(www.lock-advisor.co.uk
with lots of useful advice and
information.
Brisant-Secure has a formula
that is working well. You can
meet the team at Lockex 2016.
In the meantime, if you haven’t
already, check out the website
and prepare to be impressed.