STAFFORD, Va. –
To help prepare the region’s next generation of scientists and engineers, Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) is providing new hands-on tools for students at the Academy of Technology and Innovation at the University of Mary Washington (ATI-UMW).
The donation, delivered to the Stafford County campus by members of Dahlgren Division’s technology office, includes 3D printers, a resin printer and 3D scanner materials. The equipment expands ATI-UMW’s growing makerspace, a collaborative community similar to Dahlgren Division’s Innovation Laboratory (iLab) to build, create and experiment with tools and technology to bring ideas to life.
“We as innovators at Dahlgren are trying to shape the next generation of innovators,” said Tyler Truslow, STEM director at NSWCDD. “One of the ways we do that is by letting the students work on the same hardware our innovators have worked on the last two years in our makerspace in the iLab.”
ATI-UMW is a public, regional partnership lab school that provides students from the counties of Stafford, King George, Caroline and Orange and the city of Fredericksburg a unique high school experience focused on the increasingly integrated relationship between computer and data science.
Its mission is to give students the high-tech skills they need to be successful in an ever-evolving economy and to expose them to STEM-related fields they might not have otherwise considered, said ATI-UMW Executive Director Rebecca Towery.
For Dahlgren Division, the connection is clear. As the Navy continues to rely on cutting-edge technology and rapid innovation to meet mission demands, having a pipeline of students already trained in design, prototyping and interdisciplinary problem-solving is critical.
“NSWCDD is leaning hard into supporting a school in our region that’s innovating to do high school education very differently for students passionate about STEM,” Truslow said. “We’ve done everything we can to pour into them for the last two years.”
It’s paying off. ATI students have already made their mark—winning both the team spirit award and the overall championship at Dahlgren Division’s STEM Triad event.
“I’d love to believe that Dahlgren bringing their school a coding and data science club last year had some small part in that,” Truslow said. “Now we’re doing the same this year, but we’re also doing this donation to help them build out their makerspace and learn to rapid prototype on the exact same hardware our scientists and engineers have been rapid prototyping on. It’s a skillset we push and utilize every single day at Dahlgren.”
The equipment is a welcome addition to the makerspace that has already become a centerpiece of the school’s hands-on approach, Towery said. It gives students a chance to try out ideas and solve problems in a way that’s different from more traditional classes.
“This donation is amazing,” said ATI-UMW instructor Judy Munoz-Lollar, who had only one 3D printer last year. She brought her own digital cutting machine from home because there wasn’t enough equipment to go around.
“Everybody wants to do 3D printing but not everyone can,” she said. Most students have had to find smaller projects that print in around 20 minutes. With the additional equipment, that’s changing.
By giving students access to the same tools used at Dahlgren Division, NSWCDD is helping local young innovators gain the skills to tackle tomorrow’s big ideas—and prepare the next generation for careers in the Navy’s technology and engineering workforce.