Our Story

A glimpse into the people behind AI Makerspace, and what drives us.

Our Purpose

We exist to empower the people who build AI systems to create real value for themselves, their families, their companies, and the world.

Our Why

For 10 years as a university professor, I saw that the only people who were succeeding in a 21st-century workforce were those who were:

📚 Learning new skills
🏗 Using those new skills to build awesome things
🚀 Sharing the awesome things they built with others

It wasn’t Ph.D. degrees, prestige, or pedigree—it was making stuff as part of a community. It was 📚 learning, 🏗️ building, and 🚀 sharing. That’s what translates to success in every domain.

In the 21st-century tech world, shipping your code is just as important as writing it. Shipping means you’ve finished the build, sent it out, and you’re ready to share.

Build 🏗️ • Ship 🚢 • Share 🚀

This is our ethos, and the secret to our success. It’s what we teach people and companies to use as their guide, their North star, when creating a path to success in the age of AI.

Our Mission

We’re on a mission to create the world’s leading community for people who want to build 🏗️, ship 🚢, and share 🚀production Large Language Model (LLM) applications.

Core Values

We’re on a mission to create the world’s leading community for people who want to build 🏗️, ship 🚢, and share 🚀production Large Language Model (LLM) applications.

📚 Practical AI education increases earning potential for people, ROI for companies, and total value delivered to society.
🏗️ Build, 🚢 ship, and 🚀 share awesome LLM applications with the latest production tools—build and sell
🍋 Make it easy for students to create within a balanced, collaborative community.
🫴 A “Give first” mentality—everyone learns by teaching their network.
🛣️ Embrace “I don’t know” on the path of lifelong learning, especially in the age of AI.

A Brief History

2015 Finished my Ph.D. in Engineering (Focus: Computational Design & Optimization) and immediately began learning Machine Learning (thanks, Deeplearning.ai).

2020 Went all-in on remote teaching as a Professor of Practice in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Dayton—atoms weren’t ready, but bits were.

2021 Moved to Silicon Valley, built ML Engineer & MLOps programs at FourthBrain (Andrew Ng’s AI Fund), and ran online events with Deeplearning.ai—education can’t be measured only in ARR.

2023 After moving back to Ohio, co-founded AI Makerspace with Chris "🪄 The Wiz" Alexiuk and began weekly YouTube sessions—creating a place for people who love staying at The LLM Edge as much as we do.

2025Now we’re growing steadily and making an impact worldwide.

We’re on the Path

If you're trying to get on the path, hit me up directly at greg@wordpress-1178413-4511952.cloudwaysapps.com — I’ll happily share advice on how our content, courses, and community can help you reach your goals.

Cheers,
"Dr. Greg" Loughnane, Ph.D.
Co-Founder & CEO, AI Makerspace