LA GRANDE — Eastern Oregon University will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the launch of the Greater Oregon STEM Hub’s new Mobile Maker Lab.

The lab is a classroom on wheels, featuring hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) learning activities, a career-connected learning curriculum and an open concept of tinkering with STEM-related tools and materials.

The school is planning a three-part event on Wednesday, Jan. 25, in the lobby of Loso Hall: a community open house to tour the Mobile Maker Lab from 1-3 p.m., followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony from 3-4 p.m., and then a celebratory mixer at 4 p.m.

“Our goal for this effort is to support our communities through STEM resources and learning as well as to strengthen our wider Eastern Oregon community,” GO STEM Project Manager Stefanie Holloway said.

The Greater Oregon STEM Hub’s Mobile Maker Lab was created with the mission of making STEM education accessible to all Eastern Oregon students.

Beginning in 2023, the Mobile Maker Lab will be traveling to deliver in-person STEM lessons and hands-on activities to schools across the GO STEM region, encompassing seven rural counties — Harney, Umatilla, Grant, Morrow, Baker, Union and Wallowa.

The K-12 and community-focused curriculum offers concepts such as renewable energy, robotics and coding, placed-based science, hands-on building and crafting, as well as other career-focused projects that can accommodate different grade levels’ learning and diverse schools’ interests and needs.

“The Mobile Maker Lab will be a game changer for the way that Eastern Oregon students receive STEM education. Nothing else like this project exists in Oregon,” Greater Oregon STEM Executive Director David Melville said.

The interior of the Mobile Maker Lab has been designed and painted by students, is ADA accessible and equipped with shelving to hold curricular materials and supplies. A major focus of the mobile lab build was to ensure that learning can happen anywhere, so a solar array, battery bank and energy-saving devices have been installed to make the classroom completely off-grid.

Additionally, the mobile lab will have a built-in electric car charging port to power the GO STEM support electric vehicle and satellite internet. The Mobile Maker Lab trailer will be pulled by a van, outfitted with STEM materials, learning supplies and all of the tools that K-12 learners will need, as it travels across the vast rural GO STEM region.