A place to bring ideas to life, for innovation to flourish, and for creativity to prosper, Stoughton High School’s very own digital fabrication laboratory, better known as the Fab Lab, recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.
The Fab Lab was introduced by Mike Connor, a mechanical engineer at Cummins Inc., a corporation that manufactures engines, as he was assigned the task of doing something big for the Stoughton community after being appointed to the Cummins Foundation Board.
“I was very inspired and energized by visiting Mahtomedi Minnesota’s Fab Lab and had the thought that we could do that in Stoughton,” Connor said, “I had it in my head that we could do just about anything if we all worked together as one.”
Although long and difficult, the process of starting the SHS Fab Lab was one that fueled learning for Connor.
“In the process, I learned a lot about the community and myself. We started in late 2010 when the economy was just coming out of one of the worst recessions in recent history. There were plenty of naysayers and critics in the beginning,” Connor said, “I learned to quiet the critic within me and the external critics by just making progress. I learned that if you make progress fast enough, the critics go somewhere else.”
Today, Connor still visits the Fab Lab several times a week. There, he assists students with numerous projects and helps with the various types of equipment, among many other things.
“I […] help with the workshops in the evenings and on Saturdays, and […] support the Summer Excel and the Summer Guitar building programs. [Along with that] I also write grants for new equipment, host the open house events, and I’m the community champion for the Fab Lab,” Connor said.
On Nov. 29, 2023, SHS held its 10th-anniversary celebration to recognize the Fab Lab’s success and impact over the past ten years, including food, beverages, and tours.
“Fab Lab Stoughton was originally conceived and funded as a three-year experiment. And here we are ten years later. I felt it was important to celebrate the success as we move into the next ten years,” Connor said.
The celebration brought in many people, including some from local companies and SHS Fab Lab students and instructors. During the event, many also gave speeches, including District Administrator Dan Keyser, former District Administrator Tim Onsager, Stoughton Mayor Tim Swadley, and Don Whalin, the founder of Stoughton Trailers
At SHS, five Fab Lab courses are currently offered, including Fab Lab: Introduction, Fab Lab: Make Something Big, and Fab Lab: Printmaking and Design, taught by Ruth Phillips. Fab Lab: Community Projects and Fab Lab: Individual Projects are taught by Cindy Carter. Some of these classes were also formerly taught by Chris Wiemer.
“[In Fab Lab classes], students interested in engineering or the arts have the opportunity to use multiple machines to create functional pieces. Students learn how to identify a problem, do research, brainstorm multiple solutions, make a plan, and create,” Phillips said.
Fab Lab classes are structured differently than other classes at SHS, as they are usually project-based.
“The introductory class is a series of guided projects with lessons, but the other classes are less structured. Other than the Community Projects class, Fab Lab projects are either alone or in small groups,” Wiemer said.
The SHS Fab Lab offers students a variety of resources to learn and create an assortment of items. Connor believes that taking a Fab Lab class will help students with future endeavors.
“[Fab Lab is] a place where students have to sometimes find answers on their own. It’s a place where the iterative design process is practiced again and again. Students design, [and] then figure out how to make it better the next time, and even better the next time,” Connor said, “These problem-solving skills are good for today’s jobs and even more important for the jobs of tomorrow, which haven’t been invented yet.”
