NewSchool’s Materials Lab is where our students’ ideas take shape. The Materials Lab is a comprehensive 3,000-square-foot facility where students can work with materials as diverse as wood and metal to plastics and composites. Students create tangible representations of their ideas by using multiple types of fabrication capabilities.
State of the Art Equipment: 3D Printing, CNC Routing, Woodworking and Metalworking
The Materials Lab offers students a unique opportunity to learn how to fabricate their designs and experience the production process first hand. The Materials Lab is not just a model shop – it is a place to research the feasibility of designs and develop problem solving skills while exploring new materials.
The Materials Lab has state-of-the-art equipment for woodworking, metalworking, CNC routing as well as 3-D printing capabilities. The Materials Lab is staffed full-time by a trained Materials Lab Manager as well as a team of trained federal work study workers.
Examples of the projects that students might produce in the shop include:
- Creating scaled models of their designs
- Fabricating a steel truss to see if it works as projected
- Prototyping a functional smartphone case design with our 3D printer
- Building functional furniture
Some recent examples of projects produced in the lab include tablet cases built out of solid Zebrano wood, a thesis project that required the development of metallic movable joints and panels, and the adaptive reuse of cargo containers.
Open 7 Days a Week
The Materials Lab is open 7 days a week while school is in session. Fall 2016 schedule coming soon.