the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, designing spaces that inspire creativity and innovation and equip students with real-world experience are at the heart of the Duffield STEAM Initiative. The Innovation and Makerspace Lab is being transformed into a high-tech, 21st century workspace where students now have access to tools commonly found in commercial manufacturing facilities and design houses. Over the past month, three substantial pieces of industry-standard equipment have been installed – the Mimaki UCJV300-130 Series large format vinyl printer/cutter, the Techno HD-II 20×34 CNC router, and the Stratasys F170 3D printer. Within days of teacher training, students were off and running, learning and experimenting with new equipment.
The Mimaki printer is the first of its kind in the lab and has many unique applications for art courses with the capability to print on various types of paper, canvas, and vinyl adhesive material. Also new to the lab is the CNC router. Students have previously been exposed to the basic concepts behind this type of machine, but they will now gain hands-on experience of its advanced processing capabilities. Additionally, students are beginning to witness first-hand some of the advantages of the Stratasys F170 3D printer, a significantly larger machine than other printers in the high school. The Stratasys has exponentially greater capabilities in terms of size, speed, and precision, and it can print with a broad range of materials. Students have already discovered some of the benefits of this advanced piece of equipment. The bathing component of the machine has the ability to dissolve printed support material, a step that was previously done manually, which was both time consuming and imprecise.
Through coursework and co-curricular activities, RHS students are engaging in the 5-step design thinking process: empathizing, defining the problem, generating ideas, building prototypes, and testing the product. The upgrades to the Innovation and Makerspace Lab will enable students to further challenge themselves and advance their knowledge and skill level while contemplating current issues and designing effective solutions.
STE-A-M is a joke.
They had to stick an “A” in there so all of those kids who can’t cut it in STEM can still “get an award”