Midwest Digital Fabrication Partnership

Two community colleges and a university are forming a Midwest Digital Fabrication Partnership (MDFP). The MDFP seeks to integrate Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)-based Digital Fabrication capabilities and resources into student learning experiences at the undergraduate levels of higher education. The major goals of the project are to: 1) integrate Digital Fabrication Laboratories into selected Product Realization courses to provide enhanced, hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning experiences; 2) assess the ability of Digital Fabrication Laboratory experiences to enhance student STEM competencies and attitudes; and 3) evaluate Digital Fabrication Laboratories as a STEM recruitment vehicle. This initiative also integrates program disciplines with Digital Fabrication orientation through development of articulation agreements between the three colleges. A cross-disciplinary Fab Lab project team is being established utilizing staff and experts from the three colleges in the Mechanical Design, Applied Engineering Technology, Manufacturing Technologies, Information Technology, and Electrical-Electronics based programs. The team is identifying selected courses in their respective programs that have Digital Fabrication relevance for hands-on learning activities. To support this initiative, partner institutions are transforming existing laboratory space into new Digital Fabrication Laboratories with incremental capital equipment investments.