STEM training initiative uses maker spaces for students and educators
Virginia Tech in the US has partnered with Qualcomm to launch the Thinkabit Lab, a new learning environment that is part lab, part maker space, and part classroom, providing teachers and students with STEM training. Thinkabit Lab will focus on students underrepresented in STEM careers and teachers from the Washington DC area, with the Virginia Tech faculty assessing how the lab impacts students' access to and awareness of STEM education and career choices.

Dive Brief:

Virginia Tech has launched a new hybrid Thinkabit lab for students and faculty members to explore innovation and creation in the sciences and technology in collaboration with liberal arts partners.

The center, a satellite facility which will also conduct outreach to underserved youth in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, will also work to encourage STEM participation among underrepresented groups.

The innovation center is funded, in part, by Qualcomm, and will create opportunities for lab participants to expand community development initiatives through STEM education.

Dive Insight:

This is one of the first initiatives where faculty innovation is a prominent element of a collegiate start-up effort. Typically, faculty are involved as reviewers or managers of innovation space, but rarely as participants. It is a strong effort to ensure that faculty members are exposed to new developments within industry and associated technology.

Some studies suggest a lack of industrial exposure can dull the skills of practitioners who also teach, and in the effort to build credentialing options within degree programs, professors who are active as researchers and in publishing have more to offer students beyond theoretical knowledge and preparation.