This group comes from founder and CEO George Davison’s alma mater and is the second class of Kiski students to navigate through our project-based, real-world inventing program. And, they’re not the only group of young innovators who will be embarking on the new product development process that focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education this spring! Nearly 40 students from Pittsburgh’s Avonworth Middle School had their eyes opened to their inventing potential when they toured our design facility just over a week ago.

Their tour also marked the start of their journey through our 9-Step Inventing Method that takes an original idea and turns it into a working product sample that can be presented to a corporation or manufacturer.

Both student groups from The Kiski School and Avonworth Middle School left Inventionland®with their spirits high and their heads in the clouds.  They returned home with their choice of Chipper or Stormy cloud balloons, created after characters in George Davison’s own children’s book, Chipper Cloud in Use Your Imagination. 

While these two student groups are just embarking on their invention goals, a group of DuBois Business College students will be returning to Inventionland®in a few weeks to complete their Inventionland® Education curriculum with panel presentations of their projects.

Stay tuned for updates on all three innovative student groups!

The post Two New Student Groups are Springing into Real-World Inventing! appeared first on Inventionland Education.

According to feedback we received from students who used the space to complete our Inventionland® Education curriculum, Kiski’s Innovation Lab is doing just that… and more!

Here’s a look at what Kiski’s students have said about their custom creative haven:

“The maker space is perfect!”

“It is very cool and fun!”

“[It is] very fun to use and a very nice privilege to have.”

“It’s very cool and helpful!”

In fact, the students, faculty and administrators at The Kiski School have found their Innovation Lab to be so inspiring that they’ve enlisted our help in adding some innovation to another area on campus! Here’s a sneak peek at where we’re getting started:

You can track The Kiski School’s latest creative transformation on Twitter and find even more details on this room renovation here – coming soon!

The post One Innovative Kiski School Space Inspires Another! appeared first on Inventionland Education.

When The Kiski School in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania, asked for some help in creating a custom makerspace for their students last summer, we were happy to lend our expertise in designing their three-room creative haven. At the time, the school had just completed their first semester of the Inventionland® Education curriculum. They were looking for a better way to encourage creativity and productivity outside the confines of a traditional classroom that can leave students feeling much less than inspired.

The school gave us a blank space of three rooms to renovate and fill with innovation, so we surveyed the space, drew up a blueprint with our suggestions and began a total redesign. The result was a unique three-room makerspace with endless creative possibilities.

“There’s an inventor-space for brainstorming and designing, a maker-space for building and a storytelling-space for showcasing ideas with video and photography,” said Inventionland® Education Executive Director Nathan Field.

We’ve given you a look at the makerspace installation already, but now The Kiski School is showing off their custom makerspace in action! They’ve created an inspirational video that takes a look inside their makerspace and the many ways their students and instructors are thriving in the inventive area:

We think The Kiski School Headmaster Christopher Brueningsen summed it up best.

“Makerspace is a perfect fit for Kiski…” said Brueningsen, noting the way their makerspace encourages creativity among both students and teachers, alike.

From the looks of things, The Kiski School custom makerspace will continue to inspire. The school’s next group of students to enroll in the Inventionland® Education curriculum is set to begin their coursework in late January.

If you think our curriculum or creative space-making capabilities are a good fit for you and your school, contact the Inventionland® Education today!

The post What a Difference a Few Months Makes! See a Custom Makerspace We Created in Action! appeared first on Inventionland Education.

The STEMisphere? Yes, the STEMisphere.

It’s a unique program they’ve created that aims to highlight “exceptional STEM opportunities available in southwestern Pennsylvania.”

According to their website, the STEMisphere “is the central hub for the region’s STEM resources and acts as a directory for students, parents, educators and others who are interested in STEM education.”

And… one of the latest STEM opportunities to be added to the Carnegie Science Center’s STEMisphere? You guessed it… the Inventionland® Education!

Now, parents, students and educators have one more way to find out how they can incorporate the Inventionland® Education curriculum into their lives! You can check out the Inventionland® Education and learn more about the Carnegie Science Center’s STEMisphere here!

Speaking of schools that are promoting STEM education with the Inventionland® Education curriculum, we recently caught up with The Kiski School, who has been utilizing their new Innovation Lab to the fullest! In fact, students there have been so pumped up about their new capabilities that they’ve even been coming in on the weekends to work on their new product ideas!

STEM education is everywhere! This weekend, we’re celebrating STEM and the Maker Movement at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh for Maker Faire Pittsburgh – hope to see you there!

The post Inventionland® Education – Welcome to the STEMisphere! appeared first on Inventionland Education.

A couple weeks ago, we gave you an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the work that our Inventionland®design team was doing to customize tools and equipment for The Kiski School in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania’s newest addition, an inventing makerspace!

Just last week, we loaded every custom-made magnetic dry-erase board, high-back desk, hammer, drill, clamp and other tool into a semi-truck and began to drive the multi-room makerspace installation process!

Inside work began on The Kiski School’s inventor-space, maker-space and story-telling space last Tuesday. In just two days, the creative spaces really started coming together, which is a good thing – because the school’s preparing to start their second semester of Inventionland® Education curriculum this fall!

Here’s a sneak peek at The Kiski School’s custom makerspaces in progress:

As they continue to prepare for the start of the fall semester, next steps for The Kiski School will include an on-site tutorial from our team. See and hear more about the school’s custom, multi-room makerspace in the coming weeks!

The post The Kiski School’s Custom Makerspace in the Making is Almost Complete! appeared first on Inventionland Education.

Just as The Kiski School in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania, prepares to kick off their second semester of Inventionland® Education curriculum, our team of designers is putting the finishing touches on the school’s creative makerspace.

This renovation project has been going on since early this summer and we’ve shared a few sneak peeks on social media; but, today, we’re delving deep into the space’s design with Inventionland® Education Executive Director Nathan Field.

“They wanted to renovate three rooms; so, we looked at the space, gave suggestions, took measurements and created a blueprint of the area,” said Field.

Ever since the blueprints were drawn up, Field and a team of designers have been busy creating the desks, tools and other equipment that will complete The Kiski School’s multi-room makerspace.

“There’s an inventor-space for brainstorming and designing, a maker-space for building and a storytelling-space for showcasing ideas with video and photography,” said Field.

Inside of that creative haven, Kiski students will find work benches, custom-made magnetic dry-erase boards, high-back desks with shadow walls marked specifically with outlined tool slots, a cyc wall and just about every hammer, drill, clamp and other tool necessary for new product development.

In addition to all of that hardware, The Kiski School’s three-room makerspace will include inspirational and informational posters to help motivate students to reach their innovative potential.

Field said that all customization work on the space has been completed in-house by Inventionland®designers over the last couple months. Now, his team is just about ready to take this makerspace on the move!

“Next week, we’re loading up a semi-truck for the on-site delivery and installation… ready just in time for fall classes,” said Field.

Here are a few more shots of The Kiski School’s creative makerspace in progress:

We’ll share more photos as we complete the makerspace installation. Check back for more from The Kiski School next week!

The post An Exclusive Look at a Custom Makerspace in the Making! appeared first on Inventionland Education.

It’s been an innovative few months as the first semester of our Inventionland® Education curriculum has continued to gather STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) across the Pittsburgh region. On Tuesday, May 19^th, that STEAM overflowed at Inventionland, when a group of tomorrow’s leaders from The Kiski School culminated their semester by presenting their final products to a board of experts.

Those expert judges included Inventionland®founder and CEO, Mr. George Davison, Managing Director of Draper Triangle Ventures Mr. D. Thompson Jones, CEO of Impact Games Kristofer Rockwell and Inventionland®Executive Director of Design Nathan Field.

In total, five teams of The Kiski School students presented products that solved everyday problems that they had previously identified in varying aspects of life. Some student groups focused their innovative ideas on finding Better Ways to do everyday things in the classroom and kitchen. Other groups saw a need for solving problems while eating, shoveling snow or cleaning glass.

During their final presentations at Inventionland, the five student groups, who have been busily working on their products since January, gave 5-10 minute product pitches where they answered questions and debuted infomercials they had created to promote their new product ideas.

After following the Inventionland® Education’s 9-step method for taking an idea and turning it into a working product sample that is ready to be presented to a corporation or manufacturer, some of the students even received order requests for the products they invented!

With their May 19^th panel presentations at Pittsburgh’s Inventionland, The Kiski School Inventionland® Education students have become the first group to complete the innovative curriculum; but, if their success is any indicator of what’s to come, we’ll be seeing new product ideas coming from this course long into the future!

Students from the DuBois Business College will be the next group to culminate their first semester with the Inventionland® Education curriculum when they present their final products at Inventionland®in the coming weeks. Check back for full details on their new product development success!

The post The Kiski School Completes Inaugural Semester of Inventionland® Education Course with Product Showcase at Inventionland! appeared first on Inventionland Education.

As the story goes, after Davison presented the course, which focuses on S.T.E.A.M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) education, to The Kiski School seniors last fall, they scrambled to sign up for class. To get their creative juices flowing, they visited Inventionland, where they enjoyed a tour of the creative design facility that turns out hundreds of new product prototypes monthly.

Following their Inventionland®tour, Executive Director of Design Nathan Field gave the students a booster talk on what to expect throughout the inventing course.

“I’m kind of smiling right now… They were definitely enthusiastic to get started,” said Field.

Just a few months into the course, it was Field’s turn to visit The Kiski School campus to check in on the Inventionland® Education students’ progress.

Like so frequently happens during the inventing process, Field said the students were working diligently on various parts of their projects.

“One group was finishing packaging; one was doing engineering and getting ready to send their project to the 3D printers; one was getting ready to test their prototype,” said Field. “It may seem like one group was further along than another; but, some went back to engineering to tweak parts to make them better.”

During Field’s Kiski visit, the students also got a jump start on the final part of their Inventionland® Education course when they gave mock product presentations.

By design, the Inventionland® Education course culminates with students trekking back to Inventionland®to pitch their new product ideas to an expert panel for review.

For The Kiski School’s inaugural class of Inventionland® Education students, that course culmination is happening at Pittsburgh’s Inventionland®today!

See how this inaugural class of Inventionland® Education students has put their full set of S.T.E.A.M skills into creating innovative new products. Check back soon for an entire recap of The Kiski School’s final Inventionland® Education presentations.

The post Final Presentation Day has Arrived: Catching Up with The Kiski School’s Inaugural Class of Inventionland® Education Students! appeared first on Inventionland Education.