PAST POP-UP // MBADIKA // CAMBRIDGE, MA
Location: Canal District Kendall // Cambridge
What You’ll Find: STEM educational experience + kits
Behind The Brand: As inventors at heart, we believe in the power of STEM education to unlock the next generation of innovators. M°Lab (or Mbadika Laboratory) is our initiative to provide these future innovators a space for empathetic invention. Our M°Lab initiative includes providing hands-on STEM workshops, digital content, as well as educational DIY kits like our M°Lab Field Kit 2.0 in collaboration with the Ministry of Supply.
As we re-shifted our programming from virtual workshops during the pandemic to in-person, we wanted to take the opportunity to explore utilizing a unique physical space to house M°Lab or Mbadika Laboratory. Our M°Lab interns, who are local area high school students exploring STEM-related career pathways, have desired to work alongside our team during their Summer session in a space that felt like a true laboratory. In order to mark our full return to in-person instruction and work, as well as the upcoming launch of our interns' latest commercial product, we wanted to explore the potential of having a pop-up laboratory during the Summer to test drive the concept of a physical M°Lab. M°Lab Skunkworks is our pop-up experience for our M°Lab interns to complete their work designing and developing the M°Lab Field Kit 2.0, an educational DIY kit for learners to explore fabric science as well as New England's rich textile history. In addition, M°Lab Skunkworks allows for the public to witness, engage, and explore our vision for the 'Future of STEM Education' in a physical environment.
Netia McCray is the Founder and the Executive Director of Mbadika (bah-GEE-kah), a non-profit organization providing individuals of all ages the opportunity to enhance their lives by learning, developing, and implementing big ideas to effect positive change in our world through STEM (Science Tech Engineering Math).