Fab Lab Connect Launched its School Fab Lab Program in Partnership with Saint Joseph High School in Brooklyn, New York and New York University.
Fab Lab Connect is happy to announce the recent inauguration of a School Fab Lab at Saint Joseph High School in Brooklyn, NY. The students at Saint Joseph High School now have access to a variety of machines––such as a 3D Printer, a 3D Scanner, a Vinyl Cutter, a CNC Milling Machine, and a VR Station––that will enable them to create their own objects, learn about digital fabrication, and contribute to the global Fab Lab network. Their teachers are being trained in digital design and fabrication.
Fab Lab Connect would like to thank the community including the Educators, Staff, Students, and all those who contributed to make this dream a reality.
See the first media coverage here…
About SJHS
Students have begun spending time in a classroom filled with technology that includes 3D printers, laser cutters, milling machines, vinyl cutters and a computer that can program machines to do special commands on demand. Students at St. Joseph’s H.S. in Downtown Brooklyn are being taught digital fabrication and computation first-hand through a variety of projects and machines.
Jessica Peters, a senior, wants to be a biomedical engineer one day. “Learning digital fabrication and other technological processes definitely empowers me to be the best that I can be,” said Peters. “I have a passion for engineering, which is a male-dominated field, creating great challenges that I will work my hardest to overcome.”
We were able to set up a Fab Lab at Saint Joseph’s H.S. thanks to our collaboration with Fab Lab Connect, which helped us organize our space, select and set up the necessary equipment and machinery, as well as providing teacher training, professional development, student activities, and continuous support. One component of being part of the Fab Lab Network is being able to connect with the larger community of inventors and creators that spans at least 80 countries, which creates a global network of research and invention. We are all very excited about the prospect of connecting with other schools across the globe.
In addition to assembling a 3D printer furnished by Ultimaker, the school has begun printing 3D printed prosthetic hands. “It empowers me to grow and help the world… like printing prosthetic hands that will allow kids without a hand not to feel different in society but ‘cool,’” said Samantha Acosta, a junior at SJHS.
About NYU
Yoav Bergner is an Assistant Professor of Learning Sciences and Educational Technology at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development. Bergner develops technology solutions to help identify evidence of learning from non-traditional environments, including Fab Labs and Makerspaces. He is working with Fab Lab Connect and their partner schools to help instructional staff document the learning that is happening in these innovative spaces.
About FLC
Schools are interested in introducing their students to digital design and fabrication (Fab Lab, Makerspace) in a program that fits their requirements.
Fab Lab Connect offers a comprehensive integration of these new technologies into a school’s STEAM program. The main components are: assessment, planning, machine installation, teacher professional development, students’ activities and continuous support.
About School Fab Lab
School Fab Lab is a Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM), project-based, integrated education program based on the constructionism theory and focuses on digital design, digital fabrication, and robotics. We deliver the program through three main components: teacher training, online platform, and machines.
Teacher training is delivered online and on-site by experts providing lesson plans and kits.
The online platform provides students and teachers space for learning and collaboration both locally and with the global Fab Network using video conferencing.
The suite of machines is complemented by software enabling teachers and students to go from digital design to digital fabrication:
3D Printers
3D Scanner
Vinyl Cutters
CNC Milling Machines
Laser Cutter & Engravers
Virtual Reality Stations
Video Conferencing
