The Mountain Lakes Library Universal Design Lab began in 2018. It has developed into an entrepreneurial innovation hub for teenagers that teaches universal design principles which teenagers use to develop long term projects.
Do You Need Specific Classes to Begin?
There are no specific skills, experiences, classes or grades to begin! We meet on Wednesday evenings between 6:45 - 8:45 pm. As projects progress, students can work on projects at different times at the ML Makerspace. Students learn about universal design principles from ML Makerspace Director Ian Matty and Lead Accessible Designer and Rocketry Team Mentor, Richard He. Richard is a MLHS alumni, ML Makerspace alumni, with a a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology. Richard’s senior year team project, Haptic Hero, earned Stevens’ University Wide Engineering at the Intersection of Art award and the RESNA award. Additionally, we work with local residents and a number of accessibility organizations throughout the world to provide feedback for real world projects. Many of our projects are 3D designed, however they do not need to be! We have many project areas such as: computer programming, robotics, gardening, electronics, podcasting, creative writing, and more!
How do Project Ideas Originate?
We have many project ideas that students can work on. Most importantly, students can propose their own ideas and we will work with them to make their projects possible.
For more information please contact Ian.Matty@mtnlakes.mainlib.org.
You can also view some of our work here:
https://sites.google.com/view/mlmakerspace-projects/home
ID: ML Makerspace students sharing projects with kids at the New Jersey Abacus Bee.