When Schools Allow Creativity & Innovation

From Stanford Magazine -

FAB FEATS: Juliana Cook, ’15 (above), works in Blikstein's lab,
where creations range from sculptures to 3-D printing projects.
Photo: Tamer Shabani, '14

IMAGINE WALKING INTO A HIGH SCHOOL classroom and, instead of rows of desks and chairs facing a whiteboard, you see workbenches. Stationed around the room is an array of machines: a 3-D printer, a laser cutter, a vinyl cutter and a milling machine. Metal drawers and storage shelves are stocked with wood, resins, burlap, glue, machinable wax, acrylic and dozens of other supplies.

You have entered a fab lab.

What’s that? Short for “fabrication laboratory,” the concept—born at MIT in 2001—was to create an environment full of multipurpose tools where one could build nearly anything. The idea caught on, and now there are close to 600 fab labs worldwide, according to fablabs.io, a website that supports and organizes the fab lab movement. The underlying goal is to provide broad access to modern means of invention.

http://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=86044&utm_medium=Email&GenwiShareGUID=E6F0A8E4-4D3E-4D11-AE82-657C0E75D103