Foundry THE FOUNDRY - WordPress

The FoundryWe envision that the Foundry will create a bridgebetween the wealth and success of KendallSquare and those who are not yet benefitting fromthe region’s Innovation Economy, serving schoolaged children, as well as adults. The work of theFoundry Consortium will connect to and bolsterongoing efforts by the City of Cambridge’sSTEAM Advisory Committee, STEAM Initiativeand the work of Agenda for Children which, todate, has concentrated on needs in preschoolthrough grade 8. Integration with these existingefforts will ensure that young people’s needs andSTEAM college/career pathways are stewardedfrom cradle to career.community partners are brought togetherto work with ASP leaders, educators, artistsand others in support of STEAM programdevelopment and implementation – not onlyat the Foundry but also in community centers/programs across Cambridge. Engagement ofleaders of other community spaces across thecity in opportunities for shared programmingand/or joint offerings will enable residents tobenefit by visiting the Foundry itself or throughvisits to other community spaces offeringprograms that originate in and are stewardedby the Foundry operations team. The multipleapproaches to engagement (residents, collegestudents, leaders of community spaces andprograms, and the private sector) provide asolid foundation for ensuring that residents ofall ages and stages of development come toknow the Foundry as their ideal place to play,learn and grow personally and professionally.“We are excited about the vision this proposaloffers to use STEAM knowledge and skills totackle income inequality, enable youth to bemore competitive in the innovation economy,promote wealth creation opportunities forcommunity entrepreneurs, and use the arts tofoster Cambridge’s creative gene.”2.2 Commitment to Engaging theCommunity to Align with Residents’ Needsand DesiresGeeta Pradhan, President, Cambridge CommunityFoundationFoundry Consortium partners have alreadytaken steps to engage the community in thedevelopment of this proposal. Copies of supportletters and online survey results appear at theend of this proposal.Local investigations into methods for advancingSTEAM education led to a focus on the Cityof Cambridge’s investment in afterschoolprograms (ASPs) at youth centers in lowincome neighborhoods and its summer youthprograms. It is the Foundry Consortium’sintent, therefore, that the Foundry serve as acrossroads in which STEAM professionals andResidents of Cambridge are our top priority,with an emphasis on youth and seniors, and aparticular focus on under-represented, lowerFigure 111

The Foundryincome households. Neighborhood listeningsessions planned at the outset of the operationseffort will ensure that the needs of residents arefully realized and taken into account from the verybeginning. Listening sessions will be repeatedperiodically to ensure that the operator is awareof and responsive to the changing needs in thecommunity. The Foundry Consortium will alsosponsor a Foundry Neighborhood AdvisoryGroup that will meet twice a year to provideindependent input. The needs of neighborsand residents may, at times, conflict with theneeds and desires of market-rate tenants whosesupport will be key to the financial modelfor the Foundry. Good communications andtransparent processes and procedures will beimportant to ensure productive cooperation andcollaboration.Program who will assist with STEM programming.LMIT will also serve as the lead entity for theoverall effort until the consortium transitions toindependent non-profit status.Responsiveness to residents’ needs will beenhanced through engagement involvingcreative placemaking – a collaborative shapingof “place” that pays attention to the physical,cultural, and social identities that define a place.Engagement with residents in the community willcontribute to the initial design, development andongoing programming efforts at the Foundry. 2007 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize winner NateBall is an inventor, entrepreneur, TV host of aPBS Kids show, speaker, children’s book author,and mechanical engineer. He is CEO of AtlasDevices, LLC, that provides patented rescuedevices to the military and first responders.He seeks to bring engineers and techniciansfrom his company to do STEM outreach at theFoundry as well as his children to participate inevents and programming. 2013 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize winnerEduardo Torrealba from University of Illinoisat Urbana/Champaign invented PlantLink, aninternet connected soil moisture monitoringplatform for gardeners that was acquired byScotts Miracle-Gro. Torrealba now lives in EastCambridge next door to the Foundry and leadsengineering for Somerville-based Formlabs fornext generation 3D printing. He desires to offereducational outreach programs at the Foundrywith Formlabs employees.LMIT brings a 24-year history of working withprominent inventors in Cambridge and acrossthe U.S., including scientists, technologist,engineers, and mathematicians, that haveapplied their knowledge and skills to the creationof inventions and the formation of companies.Staff have also worked with more than 228 highschools across the nation over the last 15 years,and with college level student inventors/prizewinners. Many student prize winners have goneon to start or hold prominent roles in companiesin Cambridge and in the Greater Boston area.Local examples include:“We are excited about the new possibilitiesthe Foundry creates for people who live inand/or work in the city.”Michael V. Ananis, Ed.D., Executive Director,Rindge School of Techanical Arts3.0EXPERTISE OF THE FOUNDRYOPERATIONS ‘CORE’ TEAM(EVALUATION CRITERIA 3)Foundry Consortium partners recognize theneed for the collective effort to be staffed bya Core Team. The Core Team includes a yet tobe determined building management firm thatwill be selected through a subsequent RFPprocess, Lesley University who will assist witharts programming, and the Lemelson-MIT (LMIT)Initial Foundry Consortium members selectedthe Lemelson-MIT Program as the lead applicantbased on five factors:12

The FoundryBay and to develop and run the GatewaysEasy Bay STEM Network which spannedthe Alameda and Contra Costa countieswith a combined population of 2.6 million.Her regional STEM work received manyawards including being chosen as one of SanFrancisco Business Times’ Most Influential1. Inventing is part of the City of Cambridge’shistory and DNA and is a powerful themefor attracting youth to STEAM learningopportunities.Inventing offers opportunities for teamworkand the development of competenciesneeded by employers. The consortium wishesto include inventing as a theme for STEAMlearning. Inventing, given its focus on boththings (i.e., a technological solution to aproblem) and helping people (i.e., socialimpact), appeals to a broader group ofyoung people than those interested in theindividual disciplines of science, technology,engineering, and mathematics. Findingsfrom an ongoing ethnographic study suggestthat invention-oriented approaches to STEMmay be particularly effective for engagingwomen and underrepresented studentsin STEM. Findings from the case study aresupplemented by annual program evaluationsurveys which indicate that young womenand underrepresented students consistentlyagree and/or strongly agree that theirinvention education experiences taught themto learn from failure, persistence, and helpedto develop self-confidence in their abilityto solve problems – all of which are partof the “mindset” of leading inventors andinnovators.STEPHANIE COUCHCouch was interviewed for the cover story inthe January 2018 issue of Inventors Digest onthe topic of women in the innovation field.Women in Bay Area Business for 2016; shewas inducted into the Alameda CountyWomen’s Hall of Fame in the educationcategory in 2016; and received the 2015Biotechnology Educator of the Year Awardfrom the California Life Sciences Association.She went on to consult with CSU ChannelIslands on the development of their regionalVentura County STEM Network. All ofthese network development initiatives haveinvolved significant community engagement/organizing, research, policy work, andfundraising efforts, which Couch has doneher entire career. References from individualsattesting to her strengths in these areasare available in Appendix 11.1. Referencesinclude the East Bay Economic DevelopmentAlliance, the Gateways East Bay STEMNetwork and the Ventura County STEM2. LMIT Executive Director Dr. Stephanie Couchis highly regarded for her work in buildingSTEAM networks, ecosystems and coalitionsin local communities in support of greaterdiversity in STEM fields.Couch’s efforts to develop multi-stakeholder‘collective impact’ networks began in theearly days of the STEM education movementwhen she was hired to develop the statewideCalifornia STEM Learning Network. She wenton to launch the Institute for STEM Educationat California State University (CSU), East13

The FoundryDevelopment of an Inventor’s Studio atFletcher Maynard Academy: LMITco-developed an Inventor’s Studio at FletcherMaynard Academy (FMA) in Cambridgeand worked with students after providingprofessional development for an administratorand staff members. Activities took place at FMAand on MIT’s campus in conjunction with thesenior mechanical engineering team buildingexperience for the popular MIT class, ProductEngineering Processes, with FMA 3rd – 5thgraders cheering the college students on. OneLMIT staff member is on the FMA leadershipteam.Network. Couch is also a passionate advocateand spokeswoman for building pathways tosupport women and the underrepresented intoday’s innovation economy. Her advocacyfor greater diversity is shown in the January2018 edition of Inventors Magazine availableonline at ice-diversity/.3. LMIT’s Proven Commitment to STEAM in theCambridge Community:The Lemelson-MIT Program has celebratedinventors and worked to inspire youngpeople to pursue creative and inventive livesfor the past 24 years. Over the last 15 years,LMIT has worked closely with many STEAMHigh school students build their designs for the EurekaFestMuseum of Science design challengeFletcher Maynard Academy 3rd-5th grade students withtheir Balloon Challenge September 2017professionals and educators in Cambridge,Boston and nationally. Examples of LMIT’slocal offerings include, but not limited to:Organization and sponsorship of Innoskateat the Lynch Family Skatepark in October2016: Innoskate was a unique and successfulcollaboration between the Lemelson Centerfor the Study of Invention and Innovation at theNational Museum of American History at theSmithsonian, the Lemelson-MIT Program, and theskateboard community. Invention and innovationtake place everywhere including in skate parks;skateboarders are inventors of tricks, moves, andequipment. Innoskate celebrated invention andcreativity by sharing the skate culture’s innovativespirt and history with diverse public audiences inMuseum of Science Boston EurekaFestDesign Challenges: LMIT partnered with theMuseum of Science (MOS) Boston for sevenyears to bring the museum community andthe LMIT InvenTeams community together fordesign challenges every June. Each year, 300high school students participated; 100 studentswere from local communities and affiliated withprograms sponsored by MOS.14

The Foundry(Top left) Renata von Tscharnerof Charles River Conservancy staffstable at Innoskate(Top right) Skateboard legend,Rodney Mullen autographs askateboard(Bottom) Skateboarders of all agesat the Lynch Family Skatepark forInnoskateCambridge. Legendary skater, Rodney Mullen,and other well-known skateboarders; Vans’Steve Van Doren; the U.S. Patent and TrademarkOffice; filmmaker and inventor, Steven Sebring;MIT faculty; community partners, the LynchFamily Foundation; Charles River Conservancy;Formlabs, an innovative manufacturer of 3Dprinters located on the Cambridge/Somervilleline; Tech Imaging Services, a premier distributorof digital high speed imaging systems located inSaugus; local skateshop owners; skateboardersof all ages; and families attended the day longevent. STEAM hands-on projects for middleschool youth that encouraged inventive thinkingaround skating, manufacturing, and imagingwere available. Students for the CommunityCharter School of Cambridge participated ashosts. The event was staffed and managed by theLemelson-MIT Program including educationalopportunities; contracts; and arrangements forsecurity, food trucks, and sanitation.Students present their shoe sole designs at the MIT Museum anInventor’s DayInventor’s Day in Cambridge: The LemelsonMIT Program brings groups of young inventorstogether to celebrate the creative and inventivework that they do across the U.S. Local teamsof inventors from Massachusetts have cometogether in our community to attend the15

The FoundryCambridge Science Festival, visit laboratoriesand centers at MIT, and present their work to thepublic at the MIT Museum. The programming,logistics, transportation, and food have beenmanaged by the program.Creativity Commons to support innovation inteaching and learning across the university. Sheoversees the Cambridge Creativity Commons(CCC), a collaborative project of the CambridgeArts Council, Cambridge Community Foundation(CCF), the Cambridge Public Schools and Lesley4. Acknowledgement of Transitional Role as theFoundry Consortium DevelopsThe prospect of MIT having undue influenceon the management of the Foundry has beenraised in relation to the Lemelson-MIT Program’sservice as the operator and lead entity. Theestablishment of the Foundry Consortium,and plans to transition the consortium to anindependent non-profit organization as soon aspossible ensure that the Lemelson-MIT Programis only one of many partners steering the Foundryoperations to success.Summer Compass Program at Lesley UniversityUniversity which provides arts-based teachingand learning to engage teachers and studentsin the exploration of meaningful ideas usingcreative processes in arts and science-basedexperiential projects both in school and out-ofschool. She has also played a leadership role inthe Cambridge STEAM initiative as a member ofthe CCF advisory board, including presenting on“STEM Art STEAM” at the Cambridge CitySTEM Forum, Cambridge, April 2016.5. Capacity to Manage Fiduciary Responsibilitiesand Health and Safety ConcernsFoundry Consortium members recognize thetremendous liability that accompanies theadministration of a public building, especially afacility that will encompass the types of spacesand activities proposed in this application. TheConsortium has also considered the importanceof actively working to ensure compliance withfinancial audit requirements and health andsafety codes. The Lemelson-MIT Program’s linkto MIT and its ability to call upon the campus forassistance with these compliance issues will be ahuge benefit to the operation of the Foundry bythe consortium.We bring “the expertise of our LesleySTEAM Learning Lab, where we have deepexperience working with educators and theirstudents creating learning opportunitiesthat are hands-on, authentic, and culturallyresponsive.”Lesley University, another member of the CoreTeam, brings tremendous expertise and a longhistory of involvement in Cambridge in thearts and STEAM. Professors Martha McKennaand Sue Cusack are Lesley University’s leadrepresentatives. McKenna brings experience inintegrating the arts across the STEM disciplinesin her teaching in the Creative Arts in Learningprogram at Lesley and her leadership of theMartha McKenna and Sue Cusack, Professors andDirectors, Lesley UniversityCusack brings experience in creating inclusiveopportunities for learning in STEAM throughhands-on, authentic, and culturally responsivemaker activities. As faculty in the GraduateSchool’s STEM Division and Director of16

The Foundrythe Lesley STEAM Learning Lab, she helpsto facilitate maker learning experiences foreducators and their students in Cambridge andother urban school districts in the area.Much of her work, and the work of her team wasborn out of a partnership with the KennedyLongfellow Elementary School (KLO) in EastCambridge. At KLO, her team helped to launchthe district’s first school-based makerspace.Through this effort, she quickly learned thata makerspace was not only a fertile space forstudent learning, but it was also a way of knowingwhat was new and often inaccessible to teachers.It was that awareness that led her to build amakerspace at Lesley’s Graduate School ofEducation to help influence students’ experiencewith a divergent learning ecology that leans intothe 21st-century competencies.Image Source: hat-does-sound-look-like/#more-2466Cusack’s work at the center has quickly expandedto include providing direct support andconsultation with Cambridge’s Tobin MontessoriSchool where her team helped launch themaker mindset at all grade levels. This work alsoincluded supporting their upper elementaryteachers to enrich their science curriculum.For the last three years, her team has providedmaker workshops to CPSD’s Summer CompassProgram and provided all of their students witha field trip opportunity to Lesley University forhands-on STEM-related maker experiences thatwould have been a challenge for the summerprogram to provide. This program is a longstanding partnership with the university designedto support Cambridge students that are at risk ofregression or need remediation.Image Source: n-the-maker-olympics/Her team also actively supports the CambridgeSTEAM initiative through STEAM Nights atdifferent schools across the city. Cusack hasbeen part of the STEAM Initiative in the Cityof Cambridge since it was launched by thenMayor Henrietta Davis. She now sits on theSTEAM Advisory Committee by invitation of CityManager DePasquale and Superintendent Salim.17

The Foundry4.0PROGRAMMING MIX ANDALLOCATION (EVALUATIONCRITERIA 3 AND 6)expressed interest in providing programs and/or space in the Foundry. This input was gatheredduring efforts to develop the initial FoundryConsortium, secure support letters for thisproposal, and through an online survey of wayssupporters want to be involved.The space and portfolio of program offerings coexisting within the Foundry will support activitiesthat are multi-generational and multicultural.Programs will also address a range of disciplinesand fields of study including the visual

Foundry at 101 Rogers Street, Cambridge, MA Lemelson-MIT Program on behalf of the Foundry Consortium 222 Third Street, Suite 0300 Cambridge, MA 02142 CONTACT INFO info-lemelson@mit.edu lemelson.mit.edu Ph: (617) 253-3352 Fx: (617) 258-8276 THE FOUNDRY