The Nerd Garage of Your Dreams

Doug Donegan has been a TechShop member for about a month and a half—more or less ever since one opened in a nearby D.C. suburb. In that time, he's built an Adirondack chair from scratch, using the lab's advanced fabrication machinery and sophisticated design technology. "It took me about 50 hours to do it," he says. "I screwed up a lot."

Donegan is one of about 300 veterans who have found their way to TechShop in Crystal City, Virginia. He says that the space has been a crucial transition point for a lot of veterans. (In fact, the Veterans Administration has partnered with several TechShop spaces to provide memberships for vets.) Donegan describes TechShop as an open space for projects, a place to be creative and to put some of his training to use.