Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Shipping Container STEM Labs Head to Maryland and Texas

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 08/13/19

A nonprofit that develops STEM education programs has come up with portable learning spaces housed in shipping containers. The first new "Drop Anywhere Labs" will head to middle and high schools in Maryland and Texas this school year. The labs, which are produced by Learning Undefeated, an organization that serves high-needs communities with STEM experiences for students, are also intended to provide pop-up spaces for schools recovering from disasters.

The labs blend laboratory equipment and technology for augmented reality and game-based learning to support multiple themes: science, health, sustainability, technology, engineering and construction, energy and advanced manufacturing. Gear includes computing devices, virtual reality headsets, wind turbines, volt meters, microscopes, dissecting kits, microcentrifuges and general chemistry laboratory equipment.

"These new mobile labs serve as flexible laboratory and classroom space that triples our current capacity, enabling us to serve more than 80,000 students annually," said Brian Gaines, CEO of the nonprofit, in a statement. "Through our wide-ranging mobile lab program, we can provide equitable access to technology, and a solution to help schools more quickly regain normalcy following a natural disaster."

This isn't Learning Undefeated's first mobile STEM operation. The organization introduced the first mobile lab program for Maryland high school students in 2003 with its MdBioLab, a mobile disaster recovery STEM education program serving schools hit by hurricanes and other disasters. The larger Mobile eXploration Lab came out in 2017. Learning Undefeated said its mobile labs have served 200,000 K-12 students in 18 states to date, three-quarters of them from low-income school districts. Its Texas initiatives alone have reached 15,000 students in disaster-struck communities in 12 school districts.

With the three labs, Learning Undefeated projected that it would be able to serve an additional 60,000 students each year.

Funding for the latest project ($2.45 million) came from a number of supporters, including the states of Maryland and Texas, the Rebuild Texas Fund, the Qatar Harvey Fund, Toyota USA Foundation and pharma company AstraZeneca.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • 144-Year-Old High-School Campus Debuts New Academic Facility

    San Diego High School (SDHS) in San Diego, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new student services and classroom building; the project is part of a larger SDHS Whole Site Modernization project that began in 2022.

  • Northeastern University Breaks Ground on New Housing Community

    Northeastern University recently announced the groundbreaking of a new student housing community on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The university is partnering with American Campus Communities (ACC) for development of the project, which will have the capacity for 1,200 students and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.

  • Niles West High School Natatorium Renovation

    Natatoriums are highly specialized spaces, and luminaires in this setting face several unique challenges. Perhaps the most significant is corrosion, which is exacerbated by high indoor humidity, condensation, and pool chemicals, often resulting in material degradation in luminaires not certified to perform in corrosive environments.

  • Indiana Wesleyan University Schedules Grand Opening for New Welcome Center

    Indiana Wesleyan University recently announced that it will soon open a new Welcome Center on its campus in Marion, Ind., according to a news release. The facility will serve as the home base for prospective students and their families to learn more about the university and student life there. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for February 19.