Will Allen Foundation begins Fabrication Foundations course at Clairton City School District
By Vu Nguyen
January 18, 2021 - PITTSBURGH, PA - Today, The Will Allen Foundation begins their fourth class of the SMART Program, Fabrication Foundations. In Fabrication Foundations, students learn about hand tools, and how to fabricate specific robot parts such as a chassis, motor mount, and sensor mount. They will use different source materials: Polycarbonate and aluminum. They will also have a chance to try out Additive Manufacturing using a 3D Printer.
Each unit has an emphasis on reading drawings, fabricating the part, and making sure that every cut and hole is within proper tolerance.
This is quite a change from the previous courses where they had to assemble and program robots. However, we can’t ignore the fact that being able to fabricate the parts of a robot is equally as important (as studied during the research portion of the project.
The students will be working on this micro-certification throughout the year and will end with a year-end celebration sponsored by the Will Allen Foundation.
The Grable Foundation for the funding that allows us to continue training additional educators to implement the program across the Pittsburgh Region.