STEM Co-Leaders Veeshan Narinesingh and Herbert Brown recently had a training session with Poppy Lyttle from MakerBot.
With the addition of a brand-new MakerBot Replicator 3D printer, our Learning Center is now doubling as a makerspace.
We have always been dedicated to hands-on, project-based learning in our STEM program, and this new tool may be the most powerful piece of technology we have. With 3D printing, the students in our Foundation’s after-school program and our Learning Center’s STEM labs will be able to turn their designs into real-life objects.
Working with a template from thingiverse.com, Veeshan and Herbert made a “Tee Rex” in their training session.
“With our MakerBot printer, we will be able to make almost anything!” said Veeshan Narinesingh, our STEM program co-leader. “It will add a tangible, creative aspect to our STEM education when our students are able to build digital 3-D models and watch them physically come to life. I’m most excited to home-brew the mechanical components our amateur scientists may need in their experiments.”
Veeshan and our other STEM co-leader, Herbert Brown, have already received training from MakerBot, and they’ll be working with our young men to put the printer to good use when they return to our after-school program next week.
“Having gone through some MakerBot training, I can now see the full capability of the MakerBot Replicator,” Brown said. “Anything we can imagine can be given form. The students will have the opportunity to see their imaginations come to life. This is a great tool to assist our young men in their STEM education.”
The printer, purchased with a generous contribution from a Foundation supporter, will be a major part of our STEM work from here on out and a tremendous asset for our Learning Center and the community we serve.