Like many Innovation Lab projects, Waters’ final design required a bit of trial and error. The table beside the laser cutter is scattered with cardboard from two previous trial runs. “The vector model was a little off, so the design was coming out wrong,” she explains, pointing at a failed attempt. Now, though, she’s confident enough in her work to slip solid wood into the machine. Within minutes, the laser begins to bring Waters’ design from the computer screen to 3D reality. Her face glows as she slips the completed piece out, carefully detaching it from the frame. “He’s going to be so excited!” she exclaims, delighted.

 

For Upper School Technology Integrator Emily Letras, moments like this are exactly what she envisioned when the Technology Department began the process of building the Innovation Lab. “One of the most exciting things about the space is having it be a more visible and accessible place for our students on campus,” says Letras. “It’s helped to get more students interested in making, computer science and technology.”

 

The Lab occupies the area on the second floor of the Howell Building that previously housed the Upper School faculty room. The space is large and comfortable, with vaulted ceilings and skylights that let in plenty of natural light. The two Upper School robotics teams have taken up residence in one section of the room, which boasts a full-scale robotics field with replicas of the challenges that the teams will face in this year’s competition, as well as plenty of space for the groups to work on their robots’ designs. Across the way is what Letras affectionately refers to as the “3D printer farm” – an array of 3D printers with various specialties and functionalities – as well as the soldering station, laser cutter and vinyl cutter. Then there’s the Tool Wall, which, exactly as its name would suggest, houses a dizzying array of screwdrivers, pliers, wrenches, bolts and much, much more. Another wall, outfitted with whiteboard paint, is covered in students’ ideas and brainstorming. Creative examples of student and faculty work are everywhere, from the delicate cardboard snowflakes hanging from the ceiling to the 3D printed signs to the ingenious laser-cut tie displayed on a cabinet. The furniture ranges from cushy chairs and couches to modular whiteboard tables and desks that can easily be rearranged to encourage collaboration.

 

The space feels welcoming and lived in, a cross between a homey family room and the coolest basement workshop ever. “Whatever you’re looking for, you can find in there,” says Karolina Zieba ’17. “It’s also a really fun place. There’s a station with Legos, so if you’re stressed you can build something, and there’s a board where you can draw and write out your ideas. I really like it.”

What’s not so easy to see, though, is all the hard work that went into getting it to where it is now.

 

The process began two summers ago, when, Director of Technology Justin Curtis explains, the technology faculty in the Upper School began to think about how to make better use one of the two Upper School computer labs, which housed large Apple desktops set up in traditional rows. “What we found was that because of our 1-to-1 program the desktop computers were getting in the way,” Curtis says. “Our students were using their laptops to do the work and the desktops were blocking collaboration and group work.” So, the department decided to redesign the space, moving the computers to the exterior walls and creating a flexible, fun space at the center of the room that featured whiteboard tables and desks. There was also a small tool wall with an area for soldering and 3D printing.

 

The redesign was a hit. “Instantly, students started gravitating more and more to that environment,” Curtis says. “It was a comfortable environment, it was fun, and we made sure that students realized that it was a place to get great work done but to enjoy themselves too.”

 

However, with that popularity came a problem: it was hard for the space to accommodate the number of students who wanted to use it, especially when it was also serving as a regularly-scheduled classroom. Plus, it simply wasn’t big enough to house the kinds of equipment that Curtis had in mind. So during the summer of 2015, a major building redesign took place, with the faculty room moving to the first floor of Howell and the new Innovation Lab taking up residence in the second-floor space. Now, the Lab is a flexible, unscheduled space that is always staffed by a member of the technology team. Upper School students can come and go as they please, and once they have turned in the required waiver and gone through safety training, they can use the different pieces of equipment.

 

For Curtis, one of the best parts of the new space has been watching students exercise their creativity and stretch themselves. “We’re finding that our students are coming up with some really creative solutions to real problems that they’ve identified,” he says. “They’re learning to fail forward, because they are always hitting obstacles before they get something right, whether they’re programming or building something or what have you. What they’re learning is to take something that doesn’t work and instead of considering that a failure, to build upon that piece. They are developing this ingenuity they didn’t have before.”

 

And while the Innovation Lab is currently just for Upper School use, Upper School students are not the only ones benefitting from Bryn Mawr’s expanded commitment to technology and innovation. In the Lower School, Technology Integrator Alisha Caruso oversees the new Creation Station, which features age-appropriate technology such as 3D printers, a “take it apart” station, a Tinker Wall, and a giant Lego wall. “I think the most important thing they are learning here is risk-taking – that there’s no right or wrong answer,” says Caruso. “If your Gingerbread Man trap fails, that’s OK, you can make it again, you can improve it – and the same thing with any of their projects. [The outcome is] not always what they thought it was going to be, and that’s just fine.”

Programming education at Bryn Mawr starts as young as kindergarten and progresses through the Lower School, with each grade tackling specific projects and challenges, like catapult building and robotics. In the Middle School, girls have access to the Middle School Maker Space, a flexible and fun room similar to the Innovation Lab, though smaller in scope. Here, they experiment with projects like mobile app development. This progression through the different divisions is deliberate, says Curtis. “It’s all about learning problem-solving skills and encouraging entrepreneurship and creative thinking, starting in kindergarten.”

 

With this foundation in place, Letras can’t wait to see what the future holds. “I’m always thinking about the fact that the girls who are in fifth grade now have already seen or done a lot of things that are new to our Upper Schoolers right now,” she notes. “By the time those students get to Upper School they will help us to raise the bar for the program. [Our students’] interest, motivation and ambition drives us to push the envelope and come up with new things for them to try.”

 

In some ways, this is very challenging to technology faculty, who may be just as new to these tools as the girls are. But, says Letras, that will never prevent them from venturing into unfamiliar territory. “I would never want to stop a student from exploring something just because it’s an unknown entity to me. I want them to just go for it – try things, and we’ll learn it together.”