March 3, 2025

Maker Education Summit

Integrating the maker mentality in the classroom allows students to own their learning while developing career readiness. Get started with making at NextFab, a professional makerspace in Philadelphia, and see how this approach can benefit your community, no matter where you're starting.

  • Take home a customized project

  • Learn how to start or level up your makerspace

  • Connect with other educators and makers

Schedule

This one-day event will be hosted at NextFab, on 1800 N American St, Philadelphia, PA. Registrants will be notified via email of any schedule changes.

8:30 AM - Breakfast & Tour of the Makerspace

Enjoy a complimentary breakfast and take a tour of NextFab, a 30,000-sqft makerspace, to see the workshops, tools, and spaces where ideas turn into reality. There are departments dedicated to everything from 3D printing and laser cutting to jewelry making, woodworking, and metalworking.

9:30 AM - Breakout Session #1

Roll up your sleeves and register to make a custom leather accessory, cheeseboard, or piece of jewelry in a hands-on workshop.

12:00 PM - Lunch

Enjoy a complimentary lunch in NextFab's event hall.

1:00 PM - Breakout Session #2

Participate in interactive demonstrations and discussion from knowledgeable speakers. Scroll down for more information.

2:00 PM - Programs & Opportunities

Learn about how NextFab and other local organizations have helped high schools complement their maker offerings.

2:30 PM - Conclusion

Certificates to acknowledge six professional development hours will be distributed to all registered participants.

BREAKOUT SESSION #1

Hands-On Making

Get inspired! The technical experts at NextFab will lead hands-on workshops to help participants make either a custom leather accessory, cheeseboard, or piece of textured jewelry to take home.

BREAKOUT SESSION #2

Interactive Workshops

Makerspace Safety

Chris Anderson teaches design courses at The College of New Jersey in the School of Engineering and is the lead instructor of the Makerspace Educator Certificate Program (K-12) within the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University. In this session, Chris
will address best-practices for safety pedagogy, including how to establish “multiple layers of safety” for protecting yourself and your students in a lab setting with tools and machines. Participants will also engage in a hands-on, introductory safety lesson using a bandsaw, modeling best-practices for secondary students.

Makerspace Economy

Ashish Badjatia, an advocate for entrepreneurship and maker education, successfully raised over $200,000 to support his son’s school in Pittsburgh by establishing a makerspace, launching entrepreneurship programs, and coaching high school students to write grants to support school activities. As the Executive Director of Purple Eagle, a charitable organization he co-founded with his son during his son's high school years, Ashish has extensive experience in education initiatives. In this session, Ashish will share practical insights on launching a makerspace, selecting essential equipment, rallying community support, and developing strategies for long-term sustainability. Now residing in West Philadelphia, Ashish also serves as the CFO of two startup companies he co-founded.

About Next Fab

NextFab is a makerspace where anyone can learn the skills and access the tools they need to turn ideas into reality. Whether you're a hobbyist, student, artisan, craftsman, entrepreneur, or just someone looking to learn something new, the well-trained staff and creative community at NextFab are there to enthusiastically support you.

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The Maker Education Summit is only one part of the Maker Education Movement, an initiative dedicated to empower K-12 schools in the greater Philadelphia region to embrace and advance maker education. Through events like the Maker Education Summit and NextFab Design Competitions, the Movement aims to prepare students to thrive in a dynamic, innovation-driven world.