April 7, 2022, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.— The next generation of scientists might be inspired by building motorized LEGO creations and watching robots in action this Saturday through a Grand Rapids Community College partnership with Western Michigan University-Grand Rapids and Autocam Medical.
An AMP Lab Family Open House event is planned for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 9 in the AMP Lab @ WMU, located at 200 Ionia Ave SW in Grand Rapids.
The free event encourages children ages 5-12 to explore the world of STEM and advanced manufacturing through hands-on activities related to this rapidly growing field.
“There are exciting careers in advanced manufacturing and the STEM fields,” said Julie Parks, interim dean of Grand Rapids Community College’s School of Workforce Development. “GRCC is proud to work with WMU and other partners to inspire West Michigan families by showing how the state-of-the-art technology used in the AMP Lab classrooms is used to create things that are changing our world.”
GRCC will join Western engineering faculty, JR Automation, Bricks4Kidz, West Michigan Center for Arts + Technology and Autocam Medical to present an array of fun-filled activities, including robotic demonstrations, 3D printers in action, motorized LEGO building, manufacturing lab tours and much more!
“Autocam Medical is proud to work with our education partners to model the intersection of education and industry to help empower children and their families to explore the possibilities STEM-related fields have to offer during this event,” said John Kennedy IV, general manager of Autocam Medical. “The AMP Lab was designed to foster collaborative learning between industry leaders, educators, and students and provides a unique opportunity to create pathways to careers in manufacturing and engineering.”
Occupying the first two floors of Western’s Grand Rapids regional location, the AMP Lab @ WMU is a state-of-the-art Advanced Manufacturing Partnership Laboratory where future engineers, designers and other skilled individuals can cultivate their abilities.
“Western Michigan University is placing manufacturing and design at the forefront of solving key challenges for industry by combining prototyping, professional workshops, training, K-12 outreach, small-scale manufacturing and advanced education opportunities in one space in the AMP Lab,” said Joanne Roehm, director of WMU-Grand Rapids.
The AMP Lab @ WMU in Grand Rapids is a makerspace in its truest form, providing a space to bring ideas to life.
Aiming to foster a multi-talented workforce to help reinvigorate the advanced manufacturing industries, the lab features high-tech equipment such as 3D printers, lasers and scanners to offer hands-on instruction and training, including computer numerical control programming, computer-aided design, and computer-aided manufacturing.