Learning Studios

The Sibley School is developing a new vision for how we do experiential learning – through the development of learning studios. These studios are an entirely new way of conducting undergraduate instructional labs, allowing students to look at the way they learn from a system level, with real-world systems. These systems aim to become integrated learning spaces with enough complexity to serve a wide range of students, from first-year students to seniors.
AI-created image showing the current machine shop in Upson Hall on the left morphing into the imagined Manufacturing Learning Studio of the future on the right right.

Learning With Real-World Systems

  • Two students look at mechanical equipment.

    Manufacturing Learning Studio

    We’re embarking on a transformation that will completely reimagine our machine shop into the Manufacturing Learning Studio, a state-of-the-art facility designed to give students experience with the very technologies they’ll use in industry. This vision takes the Upson Hall machine shop beyond fabrication and makes it a cornerstone of the Sibley School experience – a training ground for future engineers to master the skills that will set them apart.

  • Forklift Learning Studio

    Inside this Tang Hall learning studio, students deconstruct and assemble forklifts and their components to learn about mechanical properties and how they integrate into a larger system. For instance, students might observe the aerodynamic forces of a spinning-cylinder Flettner rotor, while others might get hands-on with a Venturi vacuum system as part of the MAE 3230 fluid mechanics course.

  • student holding drone in motion studio

    Motion Studio

    The motion studio in Tang Hall provides real-time measurement of position, velocity, and acceleration for dynamic studies. These data help students connect dynamic theory to practice in real-time, using a 14-camera IR motion-capture system to detect the location of marked objects, the studio provides a window into biomechanics and vehicle dynamics.

  • lithography machine in the mechatronics learning studio.

    Advanced Mechatronics Learning Studio

    In March 2024 semiconductor manufacturer ASML donated advanced lithography systems to help start this Upson Hall learning studio. The mechatronics learning studio maps directly onto the Sibley School curriculum and allows students to engage meaningfully with flexures, sensors and actuators, resonances, thermal management, feedback control systems, and material selection.