May 17, 2018

Engineering's C Design Lab, Imagination Station partnering for 'MakerPAD' event

Children and their families can experience the fun of creating with 3D printing, experience a virtual roller coaster ride, and make their own laser-etched name tags during a special event on Saturday (May 19) with Purdue Engineering’s C Design Lab and Imagination Station. On Saturday only, Purdue employees and their families are eligible for discounted admission.

The “MakerPAD” event, being held 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at Imagination Station, 600 N. Fourth St., Lafayette, will feature many of the C Design Lab's projects designed by Purdue students. MakerPAD, research that is designed to make personalized fabrication technology easily accessible and available to makers and students, is one of the lab’s ongoing research efforts and is funded by the National Science Foundation.

“MakerPad is a platform of design tools and maker activities that enables complex design functions to be made accessible to everyone,” says Karthik Ramani, C Design Lab director and the Donald W. Feddersen Professor of Mechanical Engineering. “We have designed a series of mini hands-on workshops to enable children to learn by doing hands-on activities and to develop a curiosity to ask questions about how things work, building bridges between their hands and minds.” 

The C Design Lab is partnering for the event with Purdue’s Multi-scale Mechanics and Materials by Design Lab led by Pablo D.  Zavattieri, a professor in the Lyles School of Civil Engineering.

Imagination Station, which opened nearly 20 years ago, is a community science center for children and their families. It is dedicated to igniting imaginations through science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) and raising awareness about STEAM career pathways. The science center collaborates frequently with Purdue to bring current research to the public via hands-on activities.

“Imagination Station and Purdue partnerships have an incredible impact on the community,” says Philip Cardella, executive director of Imagination Station. “Imagination Station partners with individual students, student organizations, staff and faculty outreach programs, and research centers and programs such as MakerPAD from the Design Labs and others such as INSPIRE and EPICS. By bringing Purdue to Imagination Station, we are able to work together on informal learning programs that are attractive to STEM education and act as an intermediary between Purdue and the community.”

This year, through exhibits, demonstrations and activities at Imagination Station, Purdue has reached nearly 15,000 people in Greater Lafayette, Cardella says. A partnership with the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences in the College of Science drew around 500 people in March. The annual Hands on Transportation event, which is held in collaboration with half a dozen groups at Purdue, is projected to attract an estimated 2,000 guests in August.

The event Saturday is free for Imagination Station members, $5 for guests age 2 and up, and $2.50 for Purdue staff and faculty who show their PUID. On Saturday only, family memberships will be 20 percent off for Purdue staff and faculty who show their PUID. Imagination Station members get free general admission to Imagination Station every day, as well as free admission to more than 350 other science centers, zoos and museums through the ASTC Passport Program, which can be found at astc.org/passport.


Faculty-Staff News

More News

Purdue University, 610 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, IN 47907, (765) 494-4600

© 2015-20 Purdue University | An equal access/equal opportunity university | Copyright Complaints | Maintained by Office of Strategic Communications

Trouble with this page? Disability-related accessibility issue? Please contact News Service at purduenews@purdue.edu.