For the third year in a row, AFFOA partnered with the Cambridge STEAM Career Exploration program to expose students who are under-represented in STEAM to careers to advanced textiles, engineering, knitting, and weaving concepts as we aim to inspire youth to pursue careers in STEM.

This collaboration helps lower barriers to access for those most impacted by systemic inequities to ensure that all Cambridge youth have access to high-quality STEAM programming, resources, and skill-building opportunities.  This program allowed AFFOA to increase awareness of the advanced fabrics industry and the variety of career pathways available to high school students in the community, aligning with the Institution’s goal to inspire and increase the talent pipeline for advanced fabrics.

AFFOA and Cambridge STEAM Highlights

This year, AFFOA hosted 5 high school students from Cambridge STEAM Career Exploration Program for one week with a robust schedule of experiences that exposed and allowed the students to learn about the advanced textile industry and various career pathways available in this industry. The students engaged AFFOA staff through career conversations, a tour of the Institute, advanced fabric-based education workshops, and e-textile design and prototyping.  As part of this 20-hour experiential learning engagement, students were exposed to Engineering Design with Prototyping workshops in AFFOA’s SeamLS curriculum.  Students ideated on pain points that can be solved with advanced fabrics and worked in groups to design and prototype their advanced fabric product ideas.

Student  prototypes included:

• Sweet Tee: A t-shirt that performs glucose monitoring through sweat, measured with advanced fabrics and sensors woven into the armpits and back
• Carpel Care: A wrist sleeve that provides compression and pain relief through a steady release of capsaicin for carpal tunnel patients.  It also measures blood pressure in the hands and fingers and alerts the user of abnormalities.

Looking Forward

AFFOA’s education and workforce development team welcomes partnering with youth-serving programs and educational institutions to expose young people to STEM careers within advanced fabrics.  As a result of the effort, AFFOA has deepened its relationship with the City of Cambridge STEAM community and will be leveraging this partnership to expand advanced fabric educational opportunities with other education and workforce partners.

AFFOA’s SeamLS curriculum and learning materials is accessible here and can be adapted to various high school STEAM programs and classroom settings. If you would like to bring a group of students to AFFOA for a tour or are interested in exploring Advanced Fabric experiential learning opportunities, contact us at curriculum@affoa.org.