Students working on a wood project in the Fimbel Lab

Academics
Centers and Facilities
Fimbel Maker & Innovation Lab

Fimbel Maker & Innovation Lab

The Mount Holyoke College Fimbel Maker & Innovation Lab supports novices and experts alike as they turn their ideas into tangible reality. We foster collaboration across the College and inspire our students to pursue careers and projects they might never have considered.

The Lab brings together the tools, people, and resources to support maker culture on campus. We welcome all ideas and facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations. We will connect you to the wealth of expertise and facilities on our campus and beyond.

Self Guided Virtual Tour

Using the Fimbel Maker & Innovation Lab

The Fimbel Lab is open to all members of the Mount Holyoke College community, including Five College students who are taking Mount Holyoke College classes. Academic projects receive priority, but we also welcome personal projects. There is no charge to use the space, but there may be a charge for materials.

Work also extends beyond the Mount Holyoke community. Fimbel Lab staff regularly hold workshops for middle school and high school students in both informal and classroom settings. Please contact us if you would like to learn more.

Campus Voices

Students in the Fimbel Lab

From left) Serin Houston, assistant professor in geography, Anya Nandkeolyar ’19 and Shebati Sengupta ’19

(Re)framed: collaborative reflections on migration

Shebati Sengupta ’19

Stella Elwood ’19 poses with her robot dog

Rollo, meet robot

Stella Elwood ’19

Stella Elwood holding her 3D printed duck splints in the College’s Makerspace

Optimal claw comfort? Check.

Stella Elwood ’19

More student stories

Programming

A wide range of classes make use of Fimbel Lab staff and equipment to support specific areas of study and we offer a few classes every semester taught entirely in the lab. Examples of courses using the space include:

an American foreign policy class that learned how to make a drone rover, which they tried out in the atrium of Kendade Hall
a Future of Jobs class was introduced to robots
student entrepreneurs, sculptors, architects, and stage designers all use the laser cutter, and 3-D printers and other tools

Fimbel Maker & Innovation Lab resources are available to departments and student orgs to help promote activities and events. We’ve helped create stage sets for plays, and swag to promote awards and more.

From bike generators to Halloween costumes to chocolate molds, Fimbel Lab workshops are open to students, faculty and staff. We have also offered workshops for middle and high school students, including a week-long summer camp.

A crucial part of the mission of the Fimbel Maker & Innovation Lab is working with students beyond the College, especially those from underrepresented groups who are interested in engineering and science. We are in the process of aligning our activities with the Massachusetts State Technology and Engineering Standards, and are planning a professional development workshop for teachers. Are you associated with a school or organizations that would be interested in exploring a workshop or curricular support such as using technology in the classroom? Contact us! We'd be happy to work with you.

Explore the Fimbel Lab

View Gallery

A student works on a wood project in the Fimbel Lab

The Fimbel Maker & Innovation Lab lit from within

Students engaged in a wood block workshop in the Fimbel Lab

Students collaborating on a project in the Fimbel Lab

A student working on a wire project in the Fimbel Lab

Happening at Mount Holyoke

Fimbel Lab in the news

A little free library on the Mount Holyoke College campus

Little World Libraries have popped up on campus

New communal libraries on campus invite Mount Holyoke College students to discover and share books written in a variety of languages.

Mount Holyoke’s Fimbel Maker & Innovation Lab stands apart from the pack with its emphasis on learning-by-doing, mentorship and guidance, accessibility and diversity.

Mount Holyoke is a top maker school

Mount Holyoke College has been named one of the best maker schools in higher education by Newsweek in partnership with the publisher Make.

Mount Holyoke faculty and staff worked with the Fimbel Maker & Innovation Lab to create a variety of new tactile tools to use to teach statistics who have accessibility needs.

A toolbox for more accessible statistics

Mount Holyoke faculty and staff have created the first website of its kind addressing statistic students’ accessibility needs.

Explore Fimbel Lab News

Affiliated faculty and staff

Department head(s)

Katherine Aidala

Director of the Fimbel Maker & Innovation Lab
Kennedy-Shelkunoff Professor of Physics
on leave 2022-2023

Department and affiliated faculty

Thomas Ciufo

Associate Professor of Music, Project Manager of Arts & Technology

Naomi Darling

Five College Associate Professor of Sustainable Architecture

Rick Feldman

Lecturer in Entrepreneurship, Organizations and Society
Entrepreneurship Coordinator

Audrey St. John

Professor of Computer Science
on leave 2022-2023

Staff

Rachel Beane

Fimbel Lab Coordinator

Kris Camp

Design Mentor and Technical Lead, Fimbel Maker & Innovation Lab

Luke Jaeger

Technical Project Administrator

Shani Mensing

Design Mentor and Technical Lead

Fiona Milton

Makerspace Technician

Contact us

The Fimbel Maker and Innovation Lab

The Fimbel Maker & Innovation Lab provides 8,000 square feet where students can implement, adapt and expand diverse concepts of creation.

fimbellab@mtholyoke.edu
Prospect Hall

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