MAHTOMEDI, Minn. — Students wander into a well-lit and inviting space at Mahtomedi High School, pull on white lab coats and log into their laptops. Soon, they are immersed in software, discussing angles and prototypes, which some students are already creating out of both paper and wood. This is the Fab Lab at Mahtomedi High School, the first in a K-12 setting.

“Fab Lab stands for fabrication laboratory,” explained Principal Kathe Nickleby, who helped make this state-of-the-art design center a reality at the school.

Nickelby says Fab Labs are a creation of Massachusettes Institute of Technology, with the intent of helping developing countries learn to build products to sustain their own society.  There are 21 in this country, many at colleges and universities. Each lab is equipped with digital design equipment and a connection to MIT as well as other Fab Labs worldwide, so labs can collaborate on ideas.  Each lab has to be led by an MIT trained instructor.