Poster for MIT Project Manus, charged to create the gold standard in next generation academic makersystems.

Teaching and learning can take place beyond the traditional classroom, sitting at desks, giving or listening to lectures and doing paper assignments. MIT students and faculty know that some of the most important learning comes from doing stuff with your hands, designing and building things in the real world.

The growth of a vibrant “maker” culture is the MIT motto mens et manus (mind and hand) in action. Use these OCW courses to inspire your own hands-on explorations.

From building a printing press to building your own camera or wearables, OCW offers quite a few courses to help you hone your skills and engineering know-how. What will you make today?

Girls Who Build Cameras

The Girls Who Build Cameras workshop for high school girls is a one-day, hands-on introduction to camera physics and technology (i.e. how Instagram works!) at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory Beaverworks Center. The workshop includes tearing down old dSLR cameras, building a Raspberry Pi camera, and designing Instagram filters and Photoshop tools. Participants also get to listen to keynote speakers from the camera technology industry, including Kris Clark who engineers space cameras for NASA and MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and Uyanga Tsedev who creates imaging probes to help surgeons find tumors at MIT. During lunch, representatives from the Society of Women Engineers and the Women’s Technology Program at MIT will present future opportunities to get involved in engineering in high school and college.

CMS.608 Game Design

This course is built around practical instruction in the design and analysis of non-­digital games. It provides students the texts, tools, references, and historical context to analyze and compare game designs across a variety of genres. In teams, students design, develop, and thoroughly test their original games to better understand the interaction and evolution of game rules. Covers various genres and types of games, including sports, game shows, games of chance, card games, schoolyard games, board games, and role-­playing games.

21H.343J / CC.120J Making Books: The Renaissance and Today

This course explores the impact of new technology on the recording and distribution of words and images at three different times: The invention of the printing press ca. 1450; the adaptation of electricity to communication technology in the 19th century (telegraph, telephone, phonograph); and the emergence of digital media today. Assignments include essays and online projects. Students also participate in the design and construction of a hand-set printing press.

Collaborative Design and Creative Expression with Arduino Microcontrollers

This is a 9-day hands-on workshop about collaboration, design, and electronics prototyping. No previous experience with computer programming or electronics is required. Beginning students will be taught everything they need to know and advanced students will be challenged to learn new skills. Participants will learn about microcontroller programming using Arduino, collaborative software development using GitHub, solderless electronics prototyping, electronic sensors, rapid prototyping, and small team management.

Learn to Build Your Own Videogame with the Unity Game Engine and Microsoft Kinect

This is a 9-day hands-on workshop about designing, building, and publishing simple educational videogames. No previous experience with computer programming or videogame design is required; beginning students will be taught everything they need to know and advanced students will be challenged to learn new skills. Participants will learn about videogame creation using the Unity game engine, collaborative software development using GitHub, gesture handling using the Microsoft Kinect, 3D digital object creation, videogame design, and small team management.

Girls Who Build: Make Your Own Wearables Workshop

The Girls Who Build: Make Your Own Wearables workshop for high school girls is an introduction to computer science, electrical and mechanical engineering through wearable technology. The workshop, developed by MIT Lincoln Laboratory, consists of two major hands-on projects in manufacturing and wearable electronics. These include 3D printing jewelry and laser cutting a purse, as well as programming LEDs to light up when walking. Participants learn the design process, 3D computer modeling, and machine shop tools, in addition to writing code and building a circuit.

22.S902 Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Geiger Counters

This experimental one-week course is a freshman-accessible hands-on introduction to Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT. Students build and test their own Geiger Counter, and so doing, they explore different types and sources of radiation, how to detect them, how to shield them, how to accurately count / measure their activity, and explore cryptographical applications of radiation. This course is meant to be enjoyable and rigorous at the same time.

16.810 Engineering Design and Rapid Prototyping

This course provides students with an opportunity to conceive, design and implement a product, using rapid prototyping methods and computer-aid tools. The first of two phases challenges each student team to meet a set of design requirements and constraints for a structural component. A course of iteration, fabrication, and validation completes this manual design cycle. During the second phase, each team conducts design optimization using structural analysis software, with their phase one prototype as a baseline.

20.219 Becoming the Next Bill Nye: Writing and Hosting the Educational Show

Becoming the Next Bill Nye is about using video production techniques to develop your ability to engagingly convey your passions for science, technology, engineering, and / or math. You’ll have the opportunity to script and on-screen host 5-minute YouTube science, technology, engineering, and / or math-related shows to inspire youth to consider a future in science.

2.007 Design and Manufacturing I

This course is a first subject in engineering design. This course will expose you to interesting material, challenging you to think deeply, and providing skills useful in professional practice. A major element of the course is design of a robot to participate in a challenge that changes from year to year. From its beginnings in 1970, the 2.007 final project competition has grown into an Olympics of engineering. This year, the theme is cleaning up the planet as inspired by the movie Wall-E.