Less than a week after Washington High School for Information Technology opened its new "Fab Lab," thanks to a grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), another MPS high school is launching one.
This morning – dubbed Wisconsin Fab Lab Day – WEDC Secretary Mark R. Hogan, MPS Superintendant Dr. Darienne Driver and other state officials swung open the doors to a new Fab Lab fabrication studio at Bradley Tech High School, 700 S. 4th St. Like the Washington lab, this one was funded with a $25,000 WEDC grant.
Washington's lab has two vinyl cutters, a trio of three-dimensional printers, a 3-D scanner, a computer numerical control mill, a laser engraver and the computers to make them function. The Tech lab equipment is reportedly not the same.
21 school districts. $500K in state grants. 47 state leaders. Welcome to #WIFabLab Day as we celebrate the importance of fab labs in WI. pic.twitter.com/RcH2Uk3F5f — WEDCNews (@WEDCNews) April 25, 2017
WEDC is making $500,000 in grants to 21 school districts across Wisconsin to fund high-tech Fab Lab workshops in schools to help introduce students to the latest industry equipment that can be found in manufacturing businesses around the state.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
