Imagine

NASA’s Curiosity, a robotic rover and chemical laboratory is scheduled to land on Mars during the very early hours of Monday morning, August 6.  The rover has a robotic arm and drill, a sophisticated on-board chemical laboratory and cameras and weather detectors.  Watch this NASA video to learn more about the Mars mission and check in to this blog space for future details about DLM-TIC  coming attractions, including STEM robotics activities.

Arduino electronic boards and open source software are designed for use by anyone who has little or no electronic or engineering experience.  They are becoming popular in educational programs and with artists and designers, who would like to make things that can respond to touch, sound, light and/or movement.  The Arduino community is active and vibrant through the Arduino forum and the Arduino Wiki.

So . . . begin sketching with Arduino by checking out this video from Make Magazine.

The DLM-TIC will provide an environment that is fun and invigorating.  However, learning and skill development will also play an important role. Constructing robots has contributed to building many of the skills needed in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education.  Lego has the right idea!  So what other technologies have you explored that can contribute to a stimulating fun learning environment?

As we begin to create the service vision for the Dorothy Lumley Melrose Center for Technology, Innovation & Creativity, we’re focused on possibilities.  An environment in which creativity and learning run head long into each other to create an explosion of excitement just might contain something called a Never-Ending Drawing Machine (NEDM).

According to Fast Company, the NEDM “is basically a collaborative real-time content-sharing and creativity system that lets users create novel digital artworks together.”

What’s the coolest new thing you’ve seen lately that you think should be in the Center?