Jeran is a engineer who has been working with young adults for over 9 years now. He studied Mechanical Engineering at UC Santa Barbara and has since worked at large engineering companies such as Tesla and Teradyne. His background in both engineering and working with young adults has led him to create Forge Makerspace, in hopes of introducing as many young adults to engineering as possible.

His love of engineering started young; Jeran would disassemble every mechanical and electrical gadget he could get his hands on (only years later did he learn to put them back together). As his engineering knowledge grew, so did the scope of his projects. Bespoke electric skateboards with custom lithium ion batteries, solar panels and batteries to power his whole room and FPV racing drones were just some of his accomplishments.

In middle school, he started tutoring other students as a way to fund his engineering projects. This continued throughout high school when he began offering engineering tutoring to students that loved tinkering but lacked the proper guidance and mentorship to do higher level projects. He has helped countless elementary, middle and high school students realize their engineering projects by teaching them mechanical design, electricity fundamentals, Arduino and coding. With Jeran’s help, his students have built and modified electric bikes, go karts and even created Arduino controlled potato cannons.

Now, with Forge Makerspace, Jeran hopes to reach an even wider audience and make it easy, fun and safe for young adults to start doing REAL engineering at a young age!

Jeran Bruce

Founder & Owner

Person standing in doorway of a workshop with tables and equipment inside.

Our Mentors

  • Cassidy LeClair - Workshop Mentor

    Cassidy is a teacher, actor, and yogi. She has been a substitute teacher for five years working mostly with elementary schools during this time and a nanny/babysitter for over twelve years. She prioritizes creating safe spaces for students, encouraging imagination always and fostering creativity. She has a B.A. in Theater Arts from Fresno State and took hands-on classes building sets for in house theater performances. She’d also worked on shows on tour, building and taking apart sets for each location. She is from Paso Robles, CA. She teaches community yoga in Griffith Park and loves connecting and building community.

    Before moving to LA, she worked as the drama teacher at Cayucos Elementary school where she taught first through eighth graders. Through her role as the drama teacher she worked hands on with the students creating different sets for the show.

    She loves creating relationships with students and making each of them feel important. She’s excited to bond with the students, help out with homework, play games, and create new crafts and projects. She’s looking forward to encouraging a creative and kind workplace with the Forge Makerspace team.

  • John - Workshop Manager

    John is a recent graduate from Harvey Mudd College who enjoys rock climbing, playing basketball and video games. He majored in general engineering and has engaged in internships for large engineering companies such as Parker Meggitt and NASA JPl.

    Growing up he was interested in aeronautics, wanting to be a pilot. As he got into high school the physics involved in creating air travel captivated him more and he shifted his focus onto engineering. From then on he involved himself in projects such as small scale rockets and robotics.

    During his time at Harvey Mudd John worked in the colleges machine shop teaching students how to operate large machinery and guiding them through different projects. He also channeled his love for aeronautics by helping build a personal aircraft, instructing students to help along with the build process. Through these experiences he developed a passion for helping students realize a joy for engineering and developing their creativity. Now John looks to continue inspiring students to let their creativity flow and expand their knowledge.

  • Ben - Workshop Mentor

    Ben is a junior at Crossroads School who’s into programming, music, and robotics. These interests began to grow in middle school when he learned how to program in Python and had the chance to participate in fun engineering challenges in class.

    In his freshman year of high school, he promptly joined the robotics team, which competes in the FIRST Robotics League. It was an intimidating environment at first, working with the experienced seniors, but he learned along the way. Now, as one of the older team members, he mentors new members who are just as eager to learn as he was. He’s always looking for ways to expand his skillset, whether that means modifying his favorite video games or trying to create a home assistant device named Jarvis.

    Additionally, Ben has contributed to his community by teaching young students some simple robotics during a summer camp hosted by his team. This was a very meaningful experience for him, and he is thrilled to have the opportunity to guide students in discovering their own passions at Forge Makerspace.