GreenFab: Sustainable Design Through Engineering and Technology

Vision Education & Media, Llc, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

GreenFab is a three-year ITEST project designed to introduce low-income, minority high school youth in New York and New Jersey to engineering and technology skill sets that are used in the sustainable technologies industry. This project builds on the success of the SoBRO TEC ITEST (05-25162) and targets youth in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the South Bronx. Collaborators include New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) and Sustainable South Bronx, which will co-facilitate classes in the NSF-funded Fab Lab. Students participate in afterschool sessions and summer fellowships designed to introduce sustainable practices, industrial design, and prototyping. Activities enable participants to explore solutions to community environmental problems using small scale manufacturing. Modules to be developed and piloted for use in the afterschool sessions include: Green Machines, Sustainable Living, Adaptive and Assistive Design, and Urban Sustainability. All modules incorporate NETS Technology Standards, NSTA Science Standards, and 21st Century Learning Skills. Engineers are invited each Friday from a variety of organizations including the MIT Media Lab as well as recycling, metal fabrication, HVAC, and similar industries to help students learn how the skills obtained in GreenFab can be applied to a variety of green collar jobs and STEM positions. Finally, summer fellowships extend student skills through the application of digital technology, material repurposing, and critical analysis.