Barrett Centre for Technology Innovation inspires the next generation of innovators through its STEAM Lab Workshops

Humber College is proud to be home to a network of five Centres of Innovation that bring together faculty, researchers, students, industry partners, and the larger community to collaborate on new ideas, solve problems, and push the boundaries of innovation. Humber’s Centres of Innovation recognize, promote, and celebrate the various fields where innovation takes place. One of Humber’s five Centres of Innovation is the Barrett Centre for Technology Innovation (Barrett CTI), which opened its doors in April 2019 to inspire innovation, support skills development and promote Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) outreach with industry and community partners.

As a hub to some of the most innovative research projects at Humber, the Barrett CTI continually shares its innovations in a myriad of ways to foster collaboration within the larger community and inspire the next generation of innovators, scholars, and problem-solvers. One exciting way this has been enabled is through the Centre’s STEAM Workshops, which take place inside the Barrett CTI’s STEAM Learning Lab located in CTI 215. The Barrett CTI started organizing the STEAM Lab workshops for middle and high school students in 2019. The first-ever one was for an all-female Catholic School from Renfrew.

Collaboration with students and Humber student involvement in workshops is a defining feature of the Barrett CTI. The STEAM workshops are delivered by Humber students hired from various faculties and programs across Humber, such as the Faculty of Media & Creative Arts, Electronics, Electromechanical, Computer Systems Technician programs, and more. Currently hired Humber students are Alexander Mosor (Team Lead), Manavi Sharma, Daneep Lahl, Andrés Felipe Herreño Martínez, Noorkamal Sangha, and Hartej Tapia.

Humber students demonstrating technology and equipment in the STEAM Learning Lab in the Barrett CTI: Noorkamal Sangha, Daneep Lahl, Andres Felipe Herreno, Alex Mosor and Manavi Sharma
Humber students demonstrating technology and equipment in the STEAM Learning Lab in the Barrett CTI. From left to right: Noorkamal Sangha, Daneep Lahl, Andres Felipe Herreño, Alex Mosor and Manavi Sharma

From April to December 2019, the STEAM Lab ran in-person workshops. Approximately 1,200 middle and high school students from the GTA and the surrounding areas were able to receive in-depth, hands-on experience using technology such as Virtual Reality, Robotics, and Additive Manufacturing.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hindered in-person gatherings, the Barrett CTI pivoted to offer the workshops through online platforms. The virtual version of the STEAM Learning Lab workshops resumed in November 2020. A range of sessions have been offered, including Cisco STEAM Virtual Workshops, College Experience Days, workshops through Community Outreach & Workforce Development and their Youth Transition Program. The online platform has also made it possible to reach far more students, with over 3,900 middle and high school students attending.

Here is what Priscilla Bengo, professor in Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences and Innovative Learning, shared with the STEAM Lab team about her students attending the workshops:

“Thank you all for an excellent presentation. You have got some girls thinking of going into robotics engineering. The demos were great and tied in with our guest speaker’s work; she was talking about using robots to sort things.” –Priscilla Bengo, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences and Innovative Learning

We were pleasantly amazed to learn that the virtual environment was able to reach a more significant number of students. Temu Moore, Project Coordinator, Barrett CTI, notes, “Our reach has been amazing; we have had over 150 students in attendance in a single session. We also added Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) components to these virtual workshops.  The unfortunate part about virtual delivery is that it is, in most cases, a one-way delivery. However, the students are able to reach out with questions and our Humber students do their part to attend to every query. In the future, we envision offering a mix of both online and in-person STEAM workshops.”

In short, the STEAM Learning Lab virtual workshop sessions introduces the following technologies to students:

  • Additive manufacturing
  • Humanoid-Robot
  • Mechatronics Station
  • Robotics
  • Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)

Additive manufacturing, Humanoid-Robot, Mechatronics Station, Robotics, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)

A 2-hour virtual session consists of various activities such as demonstration of the humanoid robot Pepper—a student favourite, introduction to Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) and collaborative robots as well as the demonstration of 3D printing, VR, and AR and their industry applications. During each session, the technologies are described, demonstrated, and examples of real-life industry applications are highlighted.

The 2020-2021 virtual workshops by the number

Number of sessions held: 16, Number of student participants: 3931, Number of schools represented: 52
Number of sessions held: 16, Number of student participants: 3931, Number of schools represented: 52

To learn more about the STEAM Learning Lab, please contact Temu Moore at temu.moore@humber.ca