STEM Workshops with Ed Moriarty from MIT
The International Institute is happy to welcome MIT instructor Ed Moriarty on April 23 for a full day of hands-on workshops. The first two sessions, designed for middle and high school students from Brewster Academy in Madrid, will take place in the afternoon. Later that evening, a special workshop for the Comunidad de Madrid bilingual teachers will close out the day.
Moriarty has worked at the MIT Edgerton Center since 2000, but he’s been involved with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for much longer. After graduating from the university with a mechanical engineering degree in 1976, he worked briefly as a solar and wind power engineer before returning to the school. Moriarty has worked in various departments since, from the energy laboratory to directing the departmental computing for the electrical engineering and computer science department, according to MIT Technology Review.
The first two workshops at the Institute are aimed at schoolchildren in middle and high school. The students will use inexpensive, reusable materials to learn about scientific and engineering processes, relying on their own curiosities and discussions to guide their experiences. One of the activities includes creating string racers, small devices made out of lego bricks that are then run down a string, highlighting the different types of energies and forces.
Moriarty will also run workshops specifically for teachers. Following a session at Colegio Decroly on April 22, he will host another at the International Institute on the evening of April 23. This two-hour workshop, designed for primary and secondary school STEM teachers, will focus on how educators can inspire leadership and spark interest in STEM careers among their students. Participants will walk away with creative, engaging strategies to use in their own classrooms.
This isn’t Moriarty’s first time bringing engineering abroad. Since 2008, he has been leading educational programs across the United States and around the world. An article by Habilis notes that recently in February 2023 he co-managed a hackathon—a social coding event—in Barcelona with local teacher Alícia López. Building on four consecutive years of similar events, this hackathon welcomed more schools and students than ever before. The momentum continues, with another hackathon scheduled for this April.
Moriarty’s teaching methods encourage participants to explore their own interests and perspectives. As Moriarty told Habilis, instead of providing rigid instructions or defining what’s “right,” he lets students decide what they want to do and how they’ll do it. In doing so, they learn to take risks, embrace experimentation and grow through their mistakes.
Through this engaging and collaborative experience, the Institute aims to continue nurturing the brilliant minds of the future—both within the classroom and far beyond its walls.
By Abbey Mulcahy.
