{"id":8222,"date":"2022-08-03T13:15:32","date_gmt":"2022-08-03T18:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&#038;p=8222"},"modified":"2022-08-03T13:15:32","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T18:15:32","slug":"uw-stout-fab-labs-campus-statewide-impacts-continue-to-grow","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/uw-stout-fab-labs-campus-statewide-impacts-continue-to-grow\/","title":{"rendered":"UW-Stout Fab Lab\u2019s campus, statewide impacts continue to grow"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_8232\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8232\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8232 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2022\/07\/STO_WiFab2_2021-1024x592.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of Wisconsin teachers attending the WiFab West workshop in 2021 at UW-Stout\u2019s Discovery Center Fab Lab. \/ UW-Stout\" width=\"1024\" height=\"592\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8232\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wisconsin teachers attend the WiFab West workshop in 2021 at UW-Stout\u2019s Discovery Center Fab Lab. \/ UW-Stout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For nearly a decade, the Discovery Center Fab Lab at UW-Stout has been a cutting-edge center to help bring innovative ideas to life.<\/p>\n<p>Now in its 10th year of operations, the Fab Lab \u2014 a design and digital fabrication laboratory \u2014 still is the only such facility available to all students at a Wisconsin university. And, adhering to the Wisconsin Idea, it has grown to help meet the needs of residents across the state.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2016 the Fab Lab has hosted WiFab, a workshop for teachers in Wisconsin school districts. WiFab West was held June 14-16 on campus, with 15 teachers from nine school districts, from Drummond to Milwaukee, from Bowler to Elmwood.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8234\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8234\" style=\"width: 900px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8234\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2022\/07\/STO_WiFabretreat1_2017.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of teachers tracking the progress of their projects during a recent WiFab workshop at UW-Stout. The workshops have been held since 2016. \/ UW-Stout\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2022\/07\/STO_WiFabretreat1_2017.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2022\/07\/STO_WiFabretreat1_2017-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2022\/07\/STO_WiFabretreat1_2017-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8234\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Teachers track the progress of their projects during a recent WiFab workshop at UW-Stout. The workshops have been held since 2016. \/ UW-Stout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>WiFab East, hosted by UW-Stout, will be held Tuesday to Thursday, July 19-21, at Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton.<\/p>\n<p>The workshops help train teachers who are new to fab lab technology, including many whose schools received fab lab funding from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. Teachers take the lessons learned at WiFab, such as how to use a laser engraver or 3D printer, back to their colleagues and to their district\u2019s students.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8235\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8235\" style=\"width: 225px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8235 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2022\/07\/STO_WiFab1_2021_instructorL.Charlier-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of Fab Lab instructor Laurence Charlier works with a teacher from Clayton during the 2021 WiFab West workshop. \/ UW-Stout\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2022\/07\/STO_WiFab1_2021_instructorL.Charlier-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2022\/07\/STO_WiFab1_2021_instructorL.Charlier.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8235\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fab Lab instructor Laurence Charlier works with a teacher from Clayton during the 2021 WiFab West workshop. \/ UW-Stout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Mike Cropp, UW-Stout Fab Lab manager, teaches the retreats with Steve Meyer, manager of STEM education and development at Fox Valley Technical College; and Laurence Charlier, fab lab director at Northwestern High School in Maple, a technology and engineering teacher and a UW-Stout alum.<\/p>\n<p>WEDC has awarded 100 fab lab grants to school districts since 2016.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we can have an impact on individuals to think creatively and make things that are meaningful to them at an early age, it really empowers education and is meaningful to their lives,\u201d said Randy Hulke, Discovery Center director who recently retired.<\/p>\n<p>For the school districts that received WEDC fab lab grants, UW-Stout also provides a WEDC-funded WiFab Cooperative to support lab layout, equipment selection, curriculum development and more, Hulke said.<\/p>\n<p>School district outreach is one of three areas UW-Stout\u2019s Fab Lab provides for engagement. Also:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8239\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8239\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-8239\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2022\/07\/STO_WiFab_fablab4_0-300x196.jpg\" alt=\"Photo caption: The Discovery Center Fab Lab was founded in 2013 with the assistance of a UW System grant. \/ UW-Stout\" width=\"300\" height=\"196\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2022\/07\/STO_WiFab_fablab4_0-300x196.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2022\/07\/STO_WiFab_fablab4_0.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8239\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Discovery Center Fab Lab was founded in 2013 with the assistance of a UW System grant. \/ UW-Stout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The lab, in the Vocational Rehabilitation Building, is open to the public for entrepreneurs and others hoping to develop an idea or product. Users can apply online to use the lab.<\/li>\n<li>The lab is open to UW-Stout students from every major at no cost. Up to 1,000 students a year from every major have used it, Hulke said.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Since it opened in 2013, the lab has added a second laser engraver, a second minimill and increased its 3D printers from three to six, as well as adding a plasma cutter for metal. Students, faculty and staff reserve time to use the equipment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese equipment enhancements help accommodate the number of users and the type of material they want to work with,\u201d Hulke said.<\/p>\n<p>The Fab Lab, like its mission, is hoping to innovate how its technology can be used. An initiative being developed is working with clients of the Discovery Center\u2019s Manufacturing Outreach Center.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8241\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8241\" style=\"width: 225px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-8241\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2022\/07\/STO_WiFab_FabLab2_2022_students-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of students using the equipment in the Discovery Center Fab Lab. \/ UW-Stout\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2022\/07\/STO_WiFab_FabLab2_2022_students-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2022\/07\/STO_WiFab_FabLab2_2022_students.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8241\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students use the equipment in the Discovery Center Fab Lab. \/ UW-Stout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cHow can we use these tools to help automate a job in some way or make a tool to make it easier?\u201d Cropp said. \u201cIt\u2019s simple automation. We can help solve simple problems using technology as the starting point.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>UW-Stout\u2019s Fab Lab was founded with the assistance of a multiyear $520,000 Growth Agenda award from the UW System. It features digital fabrication machines that are programmed through computer software.<\/p>\n<p>The Fab Lab provides access to a variety of tools, including computer-aided design and desktop manufacturing technologies, to help bring ideas to life. The open Fab Lab environment removes barriers, such as access to equipment and technology, while serving as an incubator for applied research, innovation, job creation and economic development.<\/p>\n<p>The WiFab workshops are coordinated by UW-Stout\u2019s Professional Education Programs and Services.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Written by Jerry Poling<\/p>\n<p>Link to original story: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uwstout.edu\/about-us\/news-center\/fab-labs-campus-statewide-impacts-continue-grow\">https:\/\/www.uwstout.edu\/about-us\/news-center\/fab-labs-campus-statewide-impacts-continue-grow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For nearly a decade, the Discovery Center Fab Lab at UW-Stout has been a cutting-edge center to help bring innovative ideas to life. Now in its 10th year of operations, the Fab Lab \u2014 a design and digital fabrication laboratory \u2014 still is the only such facility available to all students at a Wisconsin university. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":8232,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[90],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-8222","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-stout"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/8222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=8222"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=8222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}