• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Features
  • Campus News
  • CSUDH.edu
  • Contact
  • People
    • Staff Spotlight
    • Faculty Highlights
    • Alumni
  • Magazine
  • For Journalists
    • CSUDH In The News
    • Press Releases
    • Facts and Figures
    • Find Media Experts
    • Gallery
    • News Reporting on Campus

CSUDH News

The primary source of news and information about California State University, Dominguez Hills, its students, faculty, and staff.

You are here: Home / Archive / Features / CSUDH and Toyota Unveil State-of-the-Art Mobile Fab Labs

CSUDH and Toyota Unveil State-of-the-Art Mobile Fab Labs

October 9, 2017

STEM at CSUDH, grand opening of the Toyota Mobile Fab Labs on the north lawn of CSUDH

Nearly 100 middle and high school students joined members of the California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) campus community for a festive gathering on Sept. 27 to unveil the university’s new mobile fabrication laboratory (mobile fab lab), the first in a fleet of four that are now part of the Fab Foundation network of nearly 900 such labs around the globe.

Kristy Mar, a middle school STEM teacher in Torrance.

The fabs labs are designed to expand K-12 students’ skills in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, and provide teachers and CSUDH credential students with additional tools and teaching techniques to engage and excite students into STEM. The first labs will begin touring schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District South, Torrance Unified School District, and Compton Unified School District this semester, with the other three rolling out next year.

Kristy Mar, a middle school teacher at J.H. Hull Middle School in Torrance, was excited about the new ideas that the fab labs will offer students. She enthusiastically talked about the importance of exposing students to science and technology literacy, even if that’s not the path they end up taking. She added that even if they do not become engineers, maybe the exposure to STEM skills will make them “engineers of their own lives.”

“The mobile fab labs will give students the perspective that what they are doing right now academically does go somewhere, and that higher education is important,” said Mar.

The dedication also included engaging science activities for local middle and high school students, and special remarks from CSUDH administrators, superintendents from the partnering school districts, and representatives from organizations that supported the mobile fab labs creation.

Universtiy President Willie J. Hagan, Michael Goss, general manager at Toyota, and a middle school student share in the ribbon cutting ceremony.

“We have to realize that we are all part of the same ecosystem – the K-12 schools, the community colleges, our campus, the corporations, and philanthropic and nonprofit organizations,” said CSUDH President Willie J. Hagan during his opening remarks. “The degree to which we can all ensure that students come to college better prepared, more inspired, more engaged, and more excited about math and science, the better it is for all of us. We all benefit.”

The CSUDH mobile fab labs were made possible through a gift from Toyota USA that included four Tundra trucks to pull the labs, and a grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation. Co-developed by Motivo Engineering, CSUDH’s Center for Innovation in STEM Education, and the Fab Foundation, the labs are equipped with tools and technology such as laser cutters to create 2D and 3D structures, 3D printers, and electronic components for prototyping projects.

The fab lab project also addresses several issues at the heart of the STEM crisis: the need for qualified science and math teachers; a need to inspire K-12 students through engaging STEM experiences; and the need for more women and minorities graduating with STEM degrees and pursuing careers in related fields.

“Coming from the manufacturing side of our business, I can tell you that providing hands-on, creative experiences to students, educators, and communities is critical” said Mike Goss, general manager, Toyota Social Innovation, who spoke speak on behalf of Toyota during the dedication. “At Toyota, we strongly believe that the future depends on the next generation of innovators and problem solvers” Goss added.

The fab lab dedication included science activities for local school students

Zamyra Scribens, an eighth grader at LAUSD’s Samuel Gompers Middle School, does not plan to major in a STEM field; however, she was excited about the opportunity to be able to experience a variety of options and career paths at the fab lab dedication.

“I want to learn more about college, more about what I want to do, and what I want to become when I’m older,” said Scribens. “This is a great event to learn that stuff.”

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: Biochemistry, Biology, Physics, Science, STEM, Students

Recent Features

From Skid Row to College Graduate

From Skid Row to College Graduate

May 17, 2023

Kevin Jones never expected to graduate from college. In fact, after graduating from high school in 1988, he made the conscious decision not to pursue higher education – even though his three sisters had all gone on to university studies. “School and I were not friends,” recalls Jones. “All the way through elementary ... Read More

CSUDH Celebrates 16th Annual Earth Day Festival

April 21, 2023

Officially, International Earth Day is commemorated on April 22 this year, and its theme is “Invest in Our Planet.” CSUDH held its 16th annual Earth Day Festival on April 18, and the message that sustainable practices can create prosperity for people and businesses alike was clearly on display. Organized by the ... Read More

Trimaine Davis

Education is the Key for Black Resource Center Interim Director

March 22, 2023

For Trimaine Davis, the new interim director of the CSUDH Black Resource Center (BRC), education was his way out of a generational cycle of addiction and depression. Now, he dedicates himself to helping others find the same opportunities. “I really take this seriously and do what I can to make sure that the doors that ... Read More

... see all Featured Stories

Footer

California State University, Dominguez Hills Logo

1000 E. Victoria Street, Carson, CA 90747
1-310-243-2001 • Send Email

Related Sites

  • csudh.edu
  • magazine.csudh.edu
  • gotoros.com

EMAIL NEWSLETTER

Get CSUDH News directly in your inbox

Copyright © 2023 · California State University, Dominguez Hills