Grant enables Career Awareness Program
At the Fab Lab Center are various robots available for use by children as they learn to code.
Secretary Rick Siger, Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), has announced that the Shapiro Administration is investing $200,000 in the Bucks County Intermediate Unit (Bucks IU) Fab Lab’s Career Awareness Program. This new program will offer Bucks County middle school students hands-on learning experiences in advanced manufacturing, computer science and digital fabrication, through both in-school and out-of-school activities. This work complements existing efforts by the Bucks IU’s Fab Lab to support STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) initiatives countywide. The goal of this Career Awareness Program is to engage and train an estimated 4,350 Bucks County students in advanced manufacturing and technology areas over the next two years.
Dr. Mark Hoffman, Bucks IU executive director, shared, “This grant provides the Bucks IU’s Fab Lab with the necessary funding to bring innovative programs to Bucks County. The new Career Awareness Program will support students countywide and serve as a model for similar programs statewide. On behalf of the Bucks County communities we proudly serve, I offer my appreciation to our partners at the DCED for joining us in our vision to prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s careers.”
The Career Awareness Program, funded by this grant, will open doors to STEAM careers for thousands of middle school students. The Bucks IU Fab Lab Center will use the Certify-ED curriculum, which integrates virtual reality (VR) technology, allowing students to engage in both hands-on learning and virtual reality simulations. The Fab Lab Center will host field trips and after-school clubs designed to offer students a firsthand look at the many possibilities within STEAM career fields. The program will also feature immersive 3-Day Career Awareness Institutes, focusing on high-demand careers such as coding, drone technology and biotechnology.
“In Bucks County, advanced manufacturing and computer science are frequently cited as the most in-demand industries. The Bucks IU has a rich history of connecting this local need to K-12 education, which began with the launch of the Mobile Fab Lab program in 2019 and has expanded to a second mobile van and Fab Lab Center,” noted Dr. Lindsey Sides, Bucks IU supervisor of STEAM education. “We look forward to addressing the manufacturing and technology needs in Bucks County through this exciting Career Awareness grant opportunity.”
This program is funded in part by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s Manufacturing Training to Career Grant program.
“This investment creates more opportunities for students by giving them the skills and experiences they need to pursue manufacturing and STEAM careers,” said Secretary Rick Siger. “The Shapiro administration is proud to support the Fab Lab Career Awareness Program as it inspires young people and provides the advanced technology training that can put them on the path to a good paying career and supports the needs of regional industries.”
This program represents a bold step toward equipping Bucks County youth with the tools and knowledge they need to succeed in a rapidly evolving world. Development plans and program curricula are already being formulated for the Career Awareness Program.