A new mobile fabrication laboratory will help Bucks County students learn.
On Monday, the Bucks County Intermediate Unit unveiled their Mobile Fab Lab – short for fabrication laboratory – during a ribbon cutting at Seylar Elementary School in Hilltown Township. The vehicle is one of only 50 similar ones in the country and was paid for through a PAsmart Advancing Grant.
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The van is tricked out with specially-designed, age-appropriate curriculum. It also includes a laser cutter shopbot desktop, 3-D printers, a vinyl cutter, electronics, silhouette fabricators, laptops, printers, and robotics equipment.
The Mobile Fab Lab will travel to schools around the county and take up one-week residencies throughout the school year with a focus on students in grades one through eight.
One of the goals of the vehicle is to introduce students to science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) careers and also projected changes in the future.
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“The mobile Fab Lab will support innovative teaching and learning in schools throughout all of Bucks County,” said Dr. Mark Hoffman, executive director of the Bucks County Intermediate Unit. “Having a van that can move between schools allows the districts to bring cutting-edge, modern equipment directly to the students and their teachers. This helps to ensure that Bucks County schools are preparing young people today for the jobs they’ll hold tomorrow.”
Credit: Bucks IU
The Fab Lab has been contracted for all but four weeks of the current school year as of Monday.
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In addition to the school visits, the Fab Lab will also make stop at homeless shelters in the region during the weekend over the summer. The vehicle will bring onsite programs to youth whose families do not have a fixed residence.
Bucks County Intermediate Unit officials said the Fab Lab is also expected to visit summer camp programs around the county.
“It has been a very quick turn-around from the time we received our PAsmart grant back in the spring to this unveiling, and we can’t wait to see this program igniting creativity and driving interest in digital fabrication and computer science,” said Dr. Lindsey Side, intermediate unit supervisor of STEAM education.
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The Fab Lab was created through the PAsmart Advancing Grant and PECO sponsored the purchase of additional laptop computers and program scholarships.
