In search of expanding opportunities in the disciplines STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in the south, the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust inaugurated, in Poncethe printing studio 3D “Hexagon”focused on public school students and teachers.
“Most of the STEM offering is concentrated in the metropolitan area and not in the south, and offering opportunities to students and teachers in the south is important,” he stressed. Jorge Valentinedirector of the Trust’s STEM & Workforce Program, via telephone with The New Day.
The studio, located in the Prudencio Rivera Martínez building, will offer initial experience and intermediate courses in the areas of 3D printing, formally known as additive manufacturing, Valentine explained.
“What we want is to offer all of them the opportunity to experience it in an accessible way and to understand the fundamentals of how to integrate it, then, into the courses that they (teachers) provide,” he said, highlighting that “Hexagon” will also be open to students and educators from the private system, individuals and entrepreneurs.
For the remainder of this year and in 2025, students and teachers from the public education system in the south will receive free workshops at the facility, which has a capacity for about 25 people. Valentine said they hope to have the first workshops offered in October, and invited interested teachers to contact their “teaching facilitators” to reserve a space at “Hexagon.”
On the other hand, he indicated that the 3D printing studio also offers a membership for the general public who want to learn about additive manufacturing.. Membership costs $49 for one year and includes 30 hours of printing, workshops, and printing materials for the year at a 20% discount. This option is available to students in the private system, individuals, and entrepreneurs or startups working with prototyping.
The opening of the space was made possible thanks to a donation of $15,000 by the Angel Ramos Foundationwhich was matched by the Trust. In addition, the Azmat A. Assur Charitable Foundation provided a five-year $300,000 grant, $125,000 of which goes toward studio operations.
Another $100,000 of that grant will go toward offering four awards a year – 20 in all – to public school students who demonstrate “excellence and promise in emerging careers in STEM fields,” Valentine said. Additionally, $75,000 will be used to award 25 professional certificates a year, in STEM education and artificial intelligencewhich consist of 32 hours of contact with teachers in the public education system.
Valentine emphasized that this is not the Trust’s first STEM effort in the south. Among the initiatives, she mentioned the “STEM in your Town” plan, which brought workshops to the region after the earthquakes of 2020.
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There is room and there is a need to bring learning – whether formal or informal – to other corners of the island, and that is where we are looking. ”Jorge Valentine, Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust
“Whenever we see evaluations from parents and students themselves, they tell us, ‘It’s good that they brought him to the South, because there are very few accessible and high-quality STEM learning programs here.’ We had the space, we had the funds and there is the demand and the need, so we decided to combine it (in ‘Hexagon’)“, he said.
At the moment, the studio receives visitors by appointment, but Valentine said that they will eventually open to the general public from Wednesday to Saturday. Those interested in learning more about the space were invited to visit the Trust’s website (https://prsciencetrust.org/), write to the email hexagon@prsciencetrust.org or contact us by phone at (787) 523-5873.
“More of these efforts need to be concentrated in the south of Puerto Rico. Organizations like us are looking at how we can position ourselves, not only in the south, but in the mountains. Last year, we held a camp called ‘STEM in the Mountains’ in Utuado, and it was a huge success. That is, there is space and there is a need to bring learning – whether formal or informal – to other corners of the island, and that is where we are looking.“, he noted.