(Re)Visiting Digital Fabrication Labs in Middle and Upper Schools

Alberta shows off the sign she made on a ShopBot.

May and early June was the time to visit a number of digital fabrication labs in middle schools, high schools, and community colleges around the US. Some labs are fine tuning their plans after being in existence for a year or more, while some are just starting their journey.

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The Embracing of Digital Fabrication Technology in Polk County, Florida

Four Saxes: An original drawing (right) scanned and re-conceived with 3 different digital fabrication tools: Engraved in wood (ShopBot CNC router), 3D printed with ABS plastic (Ultimaker 3D printer), and laser cut out of thin acrylic (Epilog laser).

Early in May, I visited Polk County, Florida as a part of a TIES team. Polk …

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NYSTEEA and Chocolate Mold-Making for STEAM

The tastiness of making mistakes.

 

In the 52 years that the New York State Technology and Engineering Educators Association (NYSTEEA) has been meeting, there have been a lot of changes in the design software and equipment available to teachers and students. Schools have been adding digital fabrication equipment, including CNC, into …

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Digital Fabrication Education at USFLN in Edwardsville, IL

From March 13-15, 2017, ShopBot Tools attended the 2017 USFLN Symposium at Lewis and Clark Community College’s St. Louis Confluence Fab Lab in Edwardsville, IL. This year’s theme, “Stairway to Making”, featured a number of workshops and sessions highlighting the various steps that Fab Labs and Makerspaces can take to start, grow, and succeed in bringing digital fabrication …

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Digital Fabrication in Education Workshop

 

Do you have digital fabrication equipment such as a ShopBot CNC machine, laser cutter, and/or a 3D printer, and an interest in education? Do you want to know more about the software and machines available to you? Are you a facilitator of a digital FabLab or Makerspace who would like to join a …

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Professional Development for Educators in Pittsburgh: Carnegie Science Center

Carnegie Science Center is a popular spot for a play date, where children and adults can experience science first hand. It is also home to a Chevron FabLab, a digital fabrication laboratory for innovation and invention.  The Carnegie FabLab holds camps and programs for children 8 – 18.  Its mobile lab brings in depth digital …

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Recognizing the Community in Colleges in Heartland America

ATEA Region 5 meets in North Platte, Nebraska

North Platte, NE often serves as a stopping place on the transit between the East and the West Coasts of America. The Original Transcontinental Airways that carried mail between Washington D.C., New York & San Francisco made a stopover at the North Platte Landing Field, which was the …

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Durham Public School System Invests in CTE and STEM Education

Teachers and students with their finished projects

When Rick Sheldahl, Career and Technical Education Director of the Durham (NC) Public School System, and Don Ramsey, carpentry instructor at Southern School of Energy and Sustainability visited ShopBot in 2014, they were looking for an affordable CNC machine that could help their students set up a production …

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Notes from Fab12 in Shenzhen, China

Friends from 5 Continents sharing one last evening at SZOIL after Fab 12 in Shenzhen.

The Location: This year’s gathering of the International FabLab network took place in early August in Shenzhen, China. About an hour from Hong Kong, Shenzhen is a new city, grown up in the last 25 – 30 years from …

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Machining 3D Scans with a ShopBot CNC Machine

On a recent Professional Development session (PD) at the Chevron FabLab at California State University Bakersfield, Caroline McEnnis and Sallye Coyle of TIES (www.TIESTEACH.org) spent three days working with teachers, interns and staff to give them more experience with the digital fabrication tools and electronic components available in their Lab. Caroline had the attendees …

Continue reading >>> Machining 3D Scans with a ShopBot CNC Machine