Hosting international fellows offers a unique opportunity to strengthen connections across the global Fab Lab network, and Nathan Pritchett’s reflection on welcoming Quyen Dao to Fab Lab Tulsa highlights the value of these exchanges in action. His experience illustrates how shared learning, cultural perspectives, and a commitment to inclusive STEM education can inspire both local and global impact. Through collaboration, conversation, and hands-on engagement, Quyen’s visit sparked new ideas and reinforced the importance of community-centered innovation, reminding us that the greatest strength of the Fab Lab movement lies in the people who make it possible.
Reflection on Visit by Quyen Dao to Fab Lab Tulsa
By: Nathan Pritchett, Executive Director of Fab Lab Tulsa
Overview
Hosting Quyen Dao, a Chevron STEM Fab Fellow, at Fab Lab Tulsa was an energizing and affirming experience for me, our team, and our community. The visit provided an opportunity to showcase the unique ecosystem we have built around innovation, education, and workforce development, while also sharing with Quyen on the Fab Foundation’s broader perspectives on STEM engagement and community-centered maker education.
Key Takeaways from the Visit
Quyen emphasized how fab labs around the world can create equity in STEM through relationship-building, cultural responsiveness, and sustained capacity-building. She shared her commitment to supporting women in STEM. Her insights reinforced the idea that tools and technology alone are not the drivers of transformation, people and community are. This encouraged our team to reflect on how we structure programs to ensure all voices,
especially those historically underrepresented, are part of the innovation pipeline. Hearing about practices from Quyen’s programs in Vietnam through the STEM Education Promotion Alliance highlighted opportunities for shared curriculum, joint projects, and resource exchanges. Quyen’s examples, particularly the diversity of robotics education juxtaposed with traditional crafts, showed how the fab lab networks priorities on collaboration and the open exchange of ideas work to reduce the burden of solving these
issues in isolation.
Notable Projects or Practices Observed
During the visit, Quyen had the opportunity to engage with different projects and practices that reflect our mission and the creativity of our community. She participated in youth programming, including middle school and undergraduate classes. Quyen remarked on the structured but playful nature of our curriculum and its ability to build confidence and curiosity. In addition, she worked alongside our team and community members as she learned how to use new software and fabrication equipment in the development of her lessons for the SCOPES-DF platform. Our approach to maintaining an inclusive, community-centered makerspace resonated strongly with her and these practices mirror the Fab Foundation values and reinforce the role of fab labs as community anchors for innovation.
Closing Reflection
Quyen Dao’s visit was a meaningful reminder of the power of the global Fab Lab network to inspire, support, and propel forward the work we do, not just at Fab Lab Tulsa but in all of our labs. The experience left me with renewed motivation to continue developing programs that expand educational, career, and innovation pathways that are grounded in inclusivity, creativity, and community. Even after her visit, she continues to provide a spark of creativity. As holiday gifts this year, I used her gift of Vietnamese bamboo dragon flies, a traditional craft toy that has been made in one village for generations, to create sculptures using craft wire and repurposed wood blocks.
I am grateful to the Fab Foundation and Chevron for supporting opportunities like this that strengthen both local impact and international collaboration.
-Nathan Pritchett
Nathan’s reflection highlights the transformative power of international collaboration and the lasting influence that these global exchanges can have on educators, makerspaces, and communities. Quyen’s visit not only affirmed the work being done at Fab Lab Tulsa but also introduced new perspectives that continue to inspire creativity and program development. As the Chevron Fab STEM Fellowship continues to connect innovators across cultures and continents, experiences like this demonstrate how sharing knowledge, traditions, and ideas strengthens the entire Fab Lab network to expand opportunities for learners everywhere.