The new year brings more opportunities for K-12 students across the United States to be introduced to manufacturing through InnoCrate thanks to a new commercial licensing agreement between the UT Research Foundation and Smacar Solutions in collaboration with IACMI-The Composite Institute.
“The licensing of InnoCrate is a major step forward,” said UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair in Advanced Composites Manufacturing and MABE Professor Uday Vaidya. “It is a testament to the effort put forth by the team in conceiving the idea and going through all the steps to take it to commercialization. This will create a national impact, where schools and organizations across the country and beyond can engage K-12 students and teachers in an interactive high-value learning experience in topics they would not normally have and ultimately shape the next generation.”
InnoCrate, a workforce development project created by Vaidya with help from Program Administrator Vanina Ghossein and Postdoctoral Research Associate Romeo Fono Tamo in close collaboration with and sponsorship from IACMI-The Composites Institute, was launched in early 2023 as a way to engage children in advanced materials and manufacturing through experiential STEM activities that focus on plastics, composites, metal casting, and biomimicry (nature-inspired learning). A team of graduate and undergraduate students of the Fibers and Composites Manufacturing Facility (FCMF) serve as mentors for the various activities.
Participating schools are provided with InnoCrate (activity kits), that are a set of totes containing teaching tools that include materials for experiments, teacher guides, student workbooks, and instructional videos. The kits are divided by grade levels K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12 and contain everything a classroom would need for experiential learning.
The project is being piloted at three schools in Knoxville: Beaumont Magnet Academy, Vine Middle School, and Austin East High School. The results so far have been very positive.
“The licensing helps to launch the project nationwide,” said Vaidya. “Without a mechanism/outlet to disseminate the product, we would be limited to a few InnoCrates at a time. We are innovators, and the supply chain is best left to the professionals. Licensing offers this much-needed pathway.”
Smacar Solutions will be fulfilling the InnoCrate orders for nationwide distribution. While K-12 InnoCrates are currently available, the team is engaged in continuous development of new modules.
InnoCrate Receives Prestigious Award
In September 2024 at the Composites and Advanced Materials Expo (CAMX) in San Diego, California, InnoCrate won the American Composites Manufacturing Association’s Award for Composites Excellence (ACE) in the category of Infinite Possibility for Market Growth, a highly prestigious award in the field. CAMX is the largest composites show in North America with over 5,000 people in attendance.
The Infinite Possibility for Market Growth Award is presented to a composites product that demonstrates the potential to significantly increase the use of composites in existing markets or generate the greatest impact to open new and emerging markets. InnoCrate addresses a critical gap in composites education, as exposure to this is largely absent at the K-12 level.
“Exposure to advanced materials and manufacturing is crucial for shaping future career pathways, yet it often starts far too late,” said Vaidya. “InnoCrate is designed to change that by bringing advanced materials and manufacturing education into classrooms sparks curiosity and inspire the next generation.”
To date, over 2,000 students have benefitted from InnoCrate, gaining critical exposure to the field of composites at an early and formative stage of their education.
InnoCrate is also a finalist for the 2025 UT Grand Challenges Summit to be held in February in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.