Beaver Works Center
The Beaver Works Center supports the joint educational venture between Lincoln Laboratory and the MIT School of Engineering that is known as Beaver Works and that is envisioned as an incubator for innovation. Beaver Works promotes hands-on learning through capstone projects and research initiatives that leverage the expertise and enthusiasm of MIT faculty, students, and researchers, and Lincoln Laboratory staff to broaden educational partnerships.
The center comprises two spaces that facilitate project-based learning, a hallmark of an MIT education. The flagship facility is at 300 Technology Square, just off the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The second facility, opened in 2018, is housed in MIT's Building 31 and is used primarily for projects within the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Both of these makerspaces were planned for multiple uses. Open research areas are ideal for project-based classes that challenge students to build working prototypes of systems that meet specific functional requirements. The facilities are equipped with high-tech 3D printers, laser cutters, machine shop equipment, and an array of tools for assembling systems.
Here students learn the real-world constraints that are imposed on their inventive designs. Classroom-style areas adapt well to instructional sessions or collaborations among small or large groups. The facilities are routinely booked for short-term, non-credit educational activities, and weekend-long hackathons have also been held in the spaces.