Mobile Fab Lab to Reach Students in Rural Locations
October 28, 2015 – Coal Center, PA – Chevron andIntermediate
Unit 1 (IU1) in coordination with The Fab Foundation announced
today the launch of a fabrication lab (Fab Lab) that will serve
Fayette, Greene, and Washington counties in southwestern
Pennsylvania. The IU1 Community Fab Lab will offer a permanent
Fab Lab in Coal Center, as well as a mobile Fab Lab, which will
give rural community school districts access to mobile
technology and equipment that can be set up at their schools.
This digital fabrication workshop is made possible by a
portion of Chevron’s $10 million commitment to the Fab
Foundation, announced in 2014 at the White House Maker Faire, to
build Fab Labs in areas where it operates in the U.S.
The IU1 Community Fab Lab will feature state-of-the-art design
and fabrication equipment, such as laser cutters, 3D printers,
vinyl cutters and milling machines, which will give students and
the broader community unprecedented access to science,
technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) resources and
help build the skills and experience needed to succeed in STEM
fields. The Fab Lab will promote innovation and design in the
community and will build the local workforce capacity.
In
addition to the permanent Fab Lab in Coal Center, a mobile Fab
Lab will also be available to serve communities in the areas of
Fayette, Greene, and Washington counties. This will provide
high-tech equipment and teacher resources that are not often
available in rural parts of these counties. The IU1 mobile Fab
Lab will help bring these tools out into the community so
students can build the skills needed for jobs in STEM and
technical fields.
Ensuring our students have the STEM skills necessary […]