Stanford opens first-ever high school digital fabrication lab in Russia

Stanford researchers have partnered with Russian educators to establish their first-ever digital fabrication lab designed specifically for high school students to boost student interest in science, engineering and other fields.
FabLab@School, which opened June 9 in Moscow, features a range of high-tech equipment—a far cry from the test tubes and beakers still seen in today’s high school science labs. Advanced tools — including laser cutters, 3D printers and scanners, chemical sensors and robotics — will enable teachers and students to design and build advanced science experiments, product prototypes, robots and machines and engage in other engineering projects especially aimed at solving real-world problems.

“We need to connect science and engineering to students’ life, to empower them to find solutions to real-life problems and propose their own inventions,” said PAULO BLIKSTEIN, an assistant professor in the  Stanford School of Education.

“Science and engineering can be engaging and fun. No one pursues a career without being passionate about it. We need to have a place like this in schools, where students can at the same time be creative and learn science and mathematics.”

The new lab will serve nearly 750 students at a public high school in Moscow.

Read the full announcement on the School of Education’s website.