About Me
Tom Pupo is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Moonlighter FabLab. For over 9 years, it has provided an open and accessible space for
developing and testing new projects that bridge academic inquiry and economic opportunity.
Moonlighter FabLab empowers makers to shape a better future through:
EDUCATION | Opportunities to learn in the the STEAM Learning Center.
ACCESS | Democratized access to state of the art digital fabrication technologies, tools, and spaces to create at the FabLab.
COLLABORATION | Community projects that solve local challenges.
OUTREACH | Through the annual Maker Faire Miami and other activations and events.
The organization leverages design and technology to address the pressing needs in our community. The fabrication lab is a central platform that supports
experimentation in both learning and doing, and to create a pipeline from education to professional practice
in which creativity and innovation is harnessed to solve local and global challenges. Positioned as Miami-Dade County's leading
maker-centered learning environment, Moonlighter FabLab's reputation is preceded by its designation as:
- A regional hub of Maker Ed, which is a learning model that is transforming the educational experience for
children by harnessing the potential of making;
- A registered MIT/FabFoundation Lab, a global network of field fab labs developed by MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms.
- Global Chapter of Sphero/littleBits Electronics, the world's leading maker of open-source electronic blocks that snap together like Lego bricks fostering infinite circuitry creations;
- A member of the Urban Manufacturing Alliance, a national coalition of experts, advocates and practitioners committed to building manufacturing economies fit for the 21st Century, and that create important pathways for the middle class,
- A Global Maker Camp Affiliate, a nationwide summer camp community that has enriched the lives of over a million campers since it started in 2012,
- A member of the Nation of Makers Non-Profit Network, and
- A member of the international Make: Community Non-Profit network.
Moonlighter STEAM programs have impacted over 15,000 students, delivered programs to over 35 schools, and reached over 35,000 families through community outreach events.
Tom has also served as a professor at the FIU Honors College, FIU College of Architecture and the Arts, and The Idea Center at MDC.
Tom earned his Masters in Architecture from Florida International University where his research focused on the social,
economic and cultural impacts of the convergence of design, technology, and digital fabrication.
Copyright 2024 Thomas Pupo - Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial
Source code hosted at fabcloud/fabacademy/2024/thomas-pupo