Meet the Team

The Board

Email our Board here: board@thebrickyard.org

Scott Nowka (Board Chair)

Scott is a Professor of English at Salem State University where he has taught for fifteen years, and where he also serves as Chair of the Commonwealth Honors Program. In addition to his regular teaching duties, he pursues research in the Digital Humanities, or the application of digital tools to the study of literature.

At the Brickyard, coding, simple electronics, and single-board computing with Raspberry Pi, Pi Pico, and Arduino boards are among his primary interests, along with 3D printing and lasercutting.

Maegan ‘Bo’ Shilkey (Co-Director)

Bo has served as the Forman, Lead Sewist, and Lead Graphic Designer at Pelletier Awning, Beverly, Ma. She is managing the Sewing department, organizing jobs/projects, workflow and keeping in constant conversations with owner, office manager, installation teams on workflow, managing equipment for both sewing and graphic work including industrial sewing machines and large format plotter

Hailing from Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, she earned her  BFA and served on the Development Team as Student Advocate.

Among her many other pursuits, she founded and manages Calloused Hands Studio, in Danvers, Ma —  a small private art education business, utilizing her degree and teaching certificate to teach students high level art and home economic concepts in their homes; manage finances, scheduling, and clientele.

Ted Dillard (Co-Director, Treasurer )

Ted Dillard has a reputation for getting a whole lot of people together in a very small room, supplying them with all manner of interesting devices, and watching what happens. He can most generously be called an “enabler”.

The Founder and now Co-Director of The Brickyard Collaborative, he credits The Brickyard Collaborative as an idea that was perfect for a city that was ripe for opportunity a makerspace could afford, and didn’t know enough about him to run him out of town at the outset.

Ted has built several electric motorcycles and other electric vehicles of somewhat specious description, a robotic remote-controlled photographic easel, the most powerful racing belt sander to compete in the New England Belt Sander Racing Association (a Sander Named Bruce), and written several books, including Power in Flux: The History of Electric Motorcycles.

Talia Karchem (Secretary)

Sean Leach

Sean Leach has spent the past 20 years bridging people and technology. His ability to translate technology to those who are not technically oriented, and help them to discover the wonders – and fun – of today’s tools is unique.

He’s spent the past few years focusing on sustainability and electrification, both professionally and in his local community with projects like GreenBeverly.com and working on the City of Beverly’s Clean Energy Advisory Committee.

Sean has worked extensively in the Electric Vehicle and Charging Infrastructure field, as well as in IT as the Director of Technology and Client Engagement Lead for a Boston-based Marketing firm, and is committed to team-building, customer engagement and education.

Among other things, (like fabricating battery packs from salvaged lithium ion cells for portable and in-situ energy storage), Sean has recently completed converting a gasoline powered motorcycle to 100% electric.