FCDI heads to Synapse Summit for the third year in a row this week, this time anchoring a Pop-Up Fab Lab experience on the Amalie Arena Ice Level. Our AMRoC on Ice exhibit is a collaborative effort of several of our amazing program partners and includes a number of hands-on activities and demos.
Featured at our interactive booth:
- PLUGHITZ Live, with a Walk-Up podcast, that asks Synapse attendees, ” What do you make?”
- AMROC Youth robotics teams: FTC team Team Duct Tape, FTC Team VISION, FRC Team Edgar Allan Ohms
demoing, hosting a Sumobot experience and more - US Auto Training with an Auto tech display
- Prograde Labs showcasing rocketry, Battlebots protype, design processes and more
- Grow to Greatness Ventures, with our Level Up at AMRoC, entrepreneurship equity on-ramp project
- Tampa Drones with drone simulator and display
Hands- on Activities will include:
- Marble Run – from Bits 4Bots
- Sumobot challenges
- Drone simulator
- LEGO engineering challenges
- Junk Drawer Wars
- Robot driving experiences
The goal of our exhibit is to give Synapse guests a sampling of some the things that can be done and learned at the Fab Lab and why public creative spaces like AMRoC are important to building and supporting tech and science literacy and ability, and why that’s important culturally and economically.
FCDI Executive Director Terri Willingham will also be part of a panel discussion called Free Thinking: Investing Today for 
Tomorrow’s Talent -on Wednesday, February 12, at 9am – Synapse Stage 3 (located on the 4th floor, Chase Club section 2) .
If you’re at the Synapse Summit, please stop by the AMRoC Fab Lab booth at the Arena Ice Level, check out some of our great displays, try your hand at driving a robot or building something, and discover the Power of Making to change lives and build futures.