Museum of Science, Boston, Celebrates the Creativity of Engineering with New Exhibit, Engineering Design Workshop, Powered by MathWorks

BOSTON, MA – The Museum of Science, Boston, one of the world’s largest science centers, announced today the opening of its newest exhibit Engineering Design Workshop, Powered by MathWorks. Developed by the Museum of Science, with generous support from MathWorks, the permanent exhibit, opening March 22, will inspire visitors of all ages to engage in the skills used by engineers and computer scientists to think, create, and problem-solve through hands-on engineering activities and the use of state-of-the-art tools.

“Creating transformative experiences for visitors to immerse themselves in the diverse field of engineering is at the heart of our mission of inspiring a love of science in everyone,” said Tim Ritchie, president of the Museum of Science. “Partnering with MathWorks, a leader in computational thinking, we’ve been able to design an enriching experience that brings visitors along in the engineering design process through experiential learning. Engineering Design Workshop, Powered by MathWorks will ultimately be an active and iterative embodiment of the role that creativity plays in engineering and computer science.”

Over the course of five years, exhibit staff at the Museum of Science worked with engineers at MathWorks to develop a permanent exhibition that invites visitors of all ages to explore the many ways that engineers solve problems and create the solutions that impact our lives.

“This collaboration epitomizes the deep and long-standing partnership between our company and the Museum,” said Jeanne O’Keefe, chief financial officer and senior vice president of MathWorks. “We are excited to be a part of the Museum’s next generation of exhibits, which then seeks to inspire the next generation of engineers and innovators.”

Inside Engineering Design Workshop, Powered by MathWorks, visitors of all ages blend the creativity of hands-on engineering with state-of-the-art digital analysis delivered by MathWorks flagship product, MATLAB. Within the exhibit, guests will find the new home of the Museum’s immensely popular Design Challenges program. The challenges offer visitors the opportunity to use familiar materials and repurposed items to create and iterate models based on the daily prompt. The program offers visitors the opportunity to explore the engineering design process to create, test, and iterate their own designs.

The exhibit also includes a series of self-guided interactive stations where visitors are encouraged to think like engineers to design, build, and test devices in a digital setting focusing on key engineering principles including:

• Sift & Sort: A mechanical engineering design lab where visitors can create a sorting machine that will collect balls based on their different properties.
• Dive & Splash: A modeling and simulation design lab that offers visitors the ability to physically build divers and virtually test their designs to try to accomplish the deepest or shallowest dive possible; or the biggest or smallest splash with their diver.
• Program & Collect: A computational thinking design lab that combines two experiences into one. This collaborative, computational thinking experience offers guests the ability to program robots and systems to collect and sort gems to activate an art experience.

The new exhibit also features two Young Learner Zones. The Test and Measure and Plan and Predict zones are strategically designed to support the development of foundational engineering skills.

“Engineering Design Workshop, Powered by MathWorks focuses on the importance of visitors of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds to have fun and learn together,” said Dr. Christine Reich, Jane and Payson Swaffield chief learning officer. “The exhibit was developed for visitors to immerse themselves onsite and online in the core fundamentals of engineering through iteration, creative thinking, and problem decomposition to create solutions like an engineer.”

Engineering Design Workshop offers visitors opportunities to discover the many ways people use the engineering design process to improve their lives. From disciplines, including art, nature, sport, health and conservation, the exhibit aims to share how the field of engineering is as diverse and multifaceted  as the Museum’s visitors themselves. Engineering Stories, a series of vignettes available online and as a component of the exhibit itself, demonstrates the critical engineering thinking skills in practice through real-life case studies that highlight the innovative nature of people from all over New England.

Engineering Design Workshop, Powered by MathWorks will open on March 22, 2021. The exhibit is included with Exhibit Hall admission and tickets go on sale March 8. All visitors including members, holders of MA EBT/WIC, ConnectorCare cards, and other free/discounted passes must reserve tickets in advance either online at www.mos.org or by phoning 617-723-2500.