Academic Playground for All
I’ve always been a fan of field trips, so you can imagine how excited I was when a coworker suggested we stroll over to the recently renovated Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO). I loved their past space, a series of rooms floor to ceiling packed with tools like 3D printers, Lego, and laser cutters that Tufts students and faculty, both from the School of Engineering as well as the School of Arts and Sciences, would use to explore how best to “improve engineering education in the classroom; from Kindergarten to college.”
Their new space, however, was truly something else. It combined multiple different research labs, conference rooms, and a Maker’s Studio so that students could come in and have everything they needed at hand to forward the CEEO’s mission of collaborative creation. Walking through the halls I was struck by how well the CEEO’s new space aligned with the Tufts ethos of being both an impressive research institution as well as a playground for the academically curious.
In part due to my childlike sense of wonder, I found my way into every room they had and asked everyone I saw to tell me more. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend visiting the Center yourself, but if you can’t, hopefully a combination of checking out their website and my few pictures will do!