Maker Education Series

“I learned that integration of tech learning doesn't always mean buying big equipment. It means having a change of thought in how we do things in the classroom and how we look at the thinking process.”
– “Think Like Da Vinci” Workshop Participant

BNY Fab Lab Carnegie Science Center thoughtfully incorporates STEM competencies into making experiences that teach technological literacy. Learners of all ages and abilities engage with digital fabrication content through public classes, BNY Mobile Fab Lab outreach, student programming, and professional learning.

Choose from an array of workshops designed to train educators in makerspace and digital fabrication education best practices. Workshop delivery balances professional learning with hands-on exploration. You select workshops to customize your professional development package. 

Host your workshop at Fab Lab Carnegie Science Center for $1,000 per workshop, or let us bring the Mobile Fab Lab and all associated hardware and software directly to your site for $1,250 per day. Travel and lodging fees for Mobile Fab Lab apply outside of a 25-mile radius of the Science Center.

Each workshop contains six hours of instruction and can accommodate up to 16 educators. Act 48 credit is available for all workshops.

For more information, call Steve Luciano, Fab Lab Technical and Education Manager, at 412.802.2154 or email LucianoS@CarnegieScienceCenter.Org.

Coding and Making

K–8 educators | Six-hour workshop | Six hours of Act 48 credit

Digital fabrication technologies make computer programming physically engaging. Learn Scratch, as well as drag-and-drop coding that can control ground-based Spheros and air-based Parrot drones. Use the MaKey MaKey invention kit, vinyl cutter, and laser cutter to complete hands-on projects that you can use to reinforce computational thinking skills learned in coding.

Introduction to STEM Making

K–12 educators | Six-hour workshop | Six hours of Act 48 credit

Digital fabrication integrates STEM competencies into authentic making experiences for all learners. With digital fabrication technologies like 3D printers, laser cutters, and CNC machines, students can learn essential skills while creatively designing projects. Discover the basics with hands-on projects and explore ways of integrating digital fabrication into your curriculum.

Making a Makerspace

K–12 educators | Six-hour workshop | Six hours of Act 48 credit

This is an all-inclusive workshop for schools that already have a digital fabrication space or for those who are considering creating one. Make hands-on projects using 3D printers, laser cutters/engravers, and vinyl cutters. Discuss best practices, technology recommendations, budget, managing challenges, makerspace facilitation techniques, and integrating making and the space itself into school-wide curricula.

Quadcopter Challenge for MS-HS

Grade 6–12 educators | Six-hour workshop | Six hours of Act 48 credit

Get your middle and high school students excited about electronics, soldering, and the engineering design cycle by teaching them to make their own palm-sized, remote-controlled quadcopters. Learn to design, prototype, and redesign quadcopters using a laser cutter or CNC router. Wrap up with discussion, share classroom strategies, and leave with a lesson plan, classroom presentation material, a parts list, and your own quadcopter.