This collection of lessons from the GE Brilliant Career Lab bridges the gap between education and industry, classroom and career, and the economy of the future and the skills of today.
Airplane Mechanic
This lesson highlights an example of “Everyday in the life of an Airplane Mechanic”. What kind of work might an Airplane Mechanic do? Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul aircraft engines…
Wearable Device Designer
The teacher will guide students through the design and engineering process by supporting an environment that allows for trial and error, and celebrates iteration. The series is designed for 6th…
Biomedical Engineer
This lesson reflects on “Everyday in the life of a Biomedical Engineer” What does a Biomedical Engineer do? Biomedical Engineer Conduct research, along with life scientists, chemists, and medical scientists,…
IN THIS COLLECTION
This first-of-its-kind collection of digital fabrication learning experiences is designed to engage and inspire students through STEM career paths. These lessons can be deployed in partnership with teachers in middle and high school classrooms with the resources of a mobile lab. The mobile lab visits each classroom and includes equipment, materials, and an instructor that partners with the classroom teacher.
PROGRAM AND PARTNERSHIP
As part of GE’s $25M Brilliant Boston commitment to empower students to become globally productive citizens by providing access to learning experiences and skills necessary for the workforce tomorrow, the GE Brilliant Career Lab was developed in partnership with the Fab Foundation to enable students to investigate STEM careers through hands on experiences with digital fabrication tools in a mobile lab.
ABOUT THE GE BRILLIANT CAREER LAB
The Brilliant Career Lab is a resource for educators and students, providing curriculum, essential and technical skills development, career assessments, mentoring, exposure to college and career, and access to digital fabrication tools and knowledge. The program pilot started during the 2016-2017 school year In Boston Public Schools (BPS) with Tech Boston and English High Schools. Since then, the Brilliant Career Lab has exposed over 1,500 BPS students to future STEM careers, while supporting 50 teachers in incorporating digital fabrication and career exploration activities in their classroom.
Additionally, in collaboration with the Fab Foundation, Brilliant Career Play is an extension of the Boston Celtics and GE partnership that creates access for middle school students in a mobile lab environment to engage in hands-on, interactive educational experiences. Launched in November 2017, the Brilliant Career Play program has already visited 3 school districts throughout greater Boston, and exposed over 500 middle school students to STEM careers inspired by design and sports. Coupled with the mentoring and online support from Brilliant Pathways (formerly CFES ) and Everfi, students are exposed to STEM careers through a range of online and live experiences.
Brilliant Career Play launch event at the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot School in Boston, MA in November 2017.
STEM DIGITAL FABRICATION LESSONS
Decimals (Rounding off)
In this lesson, students explore rounding off decimals using number lines. In the past, number lines was drawn on the whiteboard to help students visualise rounding positions. To enhance…
November 3, 2025
The Art of Tessellations
In this art lesson, students are introduced to the concept of tessellations through the works of M.C. Escher. They learn how repeating shapes can fit together without gaps or overlaps,…
November 3, 2025
Armenian History: Easy with FabLab
During the lesson, students consolidate their previously acquired knowledge. For this purpose, a puzzle map is used, marking the regions of Great Hayq, an ancient Armenian province. This activity emphasizes…
November 2, 2025
Vector Addition with Laser Cutting
[PRE-CLASS] Cut pieces with laser cutter; vectors should be cut from 3.15mm Trotec MDF, while board can be assembled with either 3.15mm or 6.25mm Trotec MDF. Review 2D vectors with…
November 1, 2025
The Workings of Mechanisms
Students will be able to experiment with different kinds of mechanisms and observe how their different pieces interact and work together.
October 31, 2025
Mapping Canadian History Through Borders
In this lesson, students will explore the evolution of Canadian borders from 1837 to the present day through an interactive mapping game. Using a stencil of Canada, they will visualize…
October 31, 2025
Protect our teeth
Understand the structure of your teeth and develop good habits to take care of them.Caring for your teeth should start with daily habits, developing good practices for using and protecting…
October 29, 2025
Drawing techniques: Orthographic projection
Students learn to draw orthographic projections using the three principal views of an object (front, top and right side view). We use the glass-box concept to show how views are…
October 26, 2025
Eco Spectroscope – See Quantum Fingerprints of Light
Participants will learn about spectroscopy and the significance of spectra in understanding light and matter. They will observe how different light sources such as natural light, LEDs, and oil lamp…
September 22, 2025
Recycling Paper into Art & Decoration
In this lesson, students explore sustainability by recycling paper into art and decoration. They begin by discussing the importance of recycling and selecting paper as their focus, then practice sorting,…
September 22, 2025
Bag Tags with Inkscape and xTool
Students will create a bag tag. Students will use Inkscape to create a design to engrave on a 3×3 shape of their choice. Students will make provision for a hole…
September 19, 2025
FCH – Clayprinting
The “Clayprinting” activity is part of the FabConnectHer project, which supports young women to build skills, get inspired, and find opportunities in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and maths). In…
September 17, 2025
FCH – Earring bottle caps
The “Earring bottle caps” activity is part of the FabConnectHer project, which helps young women get inspired, learn new skills, and find opportunities in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and…
September 17, 2025
FCH – Floating Light
The “Floating Light” is part of the FabConnectHer project, which supports young women in learning new skills in science, technology, engineering, art, and maths (STEAM). In this lesson, students make…
September 17, 2025
FCH – Glass Laser Engraving
The “Glass Laser Engraving” activity is part of the FabConnectHer project, which helps young women learn new skills in science, technology, engineering, art, and maths (STEAM). In this lesson, students…
September 17, 2025
FCH – Ozo and Dash bot plans
The “Ozo and Dash bot plans” activity is part of the FabConnectHer project, which helps young women learn skills in science, technology, engineering, art, and maths (STEAM). In this…
September 17, 2025STANDARDS-ALIGNED
Community contributed lessons aligned with Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) offer formal educators innovative pathways to teaching content knowledge. The Fab I Can Statements are a resource to develop technology-literate learning progressions to align with content standards.
FAB TESTED
Periodically lessons are adapted and tested by the Fab Foundation team based on a call for submissions from fabbers, educators, and makers. Our inaugural set of lessons for the SCOPES-DF project were Fab Tested in 2016 and are tagged Fab Tested on the website.
OPEN-SOURCE VALUES
Lessons are distributed under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC license, that permits free use and re-purposing by others.