On November 29, 2017 ten eighth-grade students from Michicot Middle School in Michicot, Wisconsin travelled down Interstate 43 to the LAB Midwest Tech Center where they interacted on a first-hand basis with a variety of cutting edge education technology.
Accompanied by school principal Terri Risch, technical education teacher Brennen Mickelson and Becky Armbruster, the school’s science teacher and STEM coordinator, the students were exposed career pathways ranging from mechatronics to health sciences.
“What a pleasure to host such a fantastic group of young people,” said LAB Midwest CEO Renee Kirchner. “Our company’s mission is to help educators and employers close the skills gap that exists in so many STEM fields. Watching these students light up as they try a new skill or learn a new concept is truly rewarding.”
The visit began with a brief presentation of a wide variety of career opportunities, followed by a session in which the students learned about the human heart and a variety of science concepts using the AVRover 3D learning tool.
Students then split into groups and interacted with STEM Technology of all kinds. They were introduced to the concept of powder coating using the VRSim virtual reality powder coating simulator, built electrical circuits using the Amatrol ACDC Trainer and learned about gears and mechanisms while performing several experiments using the LJCreate Mechanisms Learning Systems.
Following a pizza lunch in the LAB Midwest cafeteria they learned about health science with the aid of synthetic human body parts by Syndaver Labs.
Splitting once again into their individual groups they tried their hand at virtual welding using Lincoln Electric’s VRTEX Mobile welding simulator as they competing for the highest score, moved virtual boulders around using the SimLog heavy equipment operator simulator and learned about high tech careers in Industry 4.0 using the Amatrol Tabletop Mechatronics learning system.
When asked to name their favorite part of the day one student responded by asking, “Can I say two?”
Another student said, “I loved the gears. We could use trial and error and keep trying. It was so interactive.”
LAB Midwest, the Midwest’s largest provider of curriculum, eLearning and training equipment, opened its Mequon Tech Center earlier this year and hosts several visits weekly.
