Mº Lab
Ministry of Supply was founded on the idea that by harnessing science and technology, we can design and invent products that unlock your life’s work. As inventors at heart, we believe in the power of STEM education to unlock the next generation of innovators.
Mbadika mLabs
Mbadika (bah-GEE-kah) is a non-profit STEM organization founded by Netia McCray, a fellow MIT alum who’s been dubbed “The Real Life Ms. Frizzle” - she’s dedicated her life to "developing the dreamers and doers of the impossible through STEM." Mbadika’s education initiative, mLabs, develops and teaches workshops and online programs for students in Boston Public Schools (BPS) and beyond, with a focus on electronics, 3D-printing, fabrication, and coding.
Boston Public Schools & Racial Diversity
During the COVID19 pandemic, schools across the globe have been challenged with continuing education remotely, especially in STEM fields where lab access and basic supplies are hard to come by. Boston Public Schools - particularly those in Roxbury and East Boston, where Mbadika serves predominantly Black and Hispanic students - have been disproportionately affected by this turn of events. With racial disparities in education now further amplified by the pandemic, we’ve teamed up with Mbadika to support these students.
Our partnership with mLabs
As projects born from MIT, Mbadika and Ministry of Supply share common roots in “Mens et Manus” (Mind and Hand).
What began as a 2017 field trip for a 3D Computerized Knitting project at our Boston store evolved in 2018 into school-vacation workshops around wearable technologies - and now, a partnership for the appropriately named Mº Lab Field Kit.
The M° Lab Field Kit
The Mº Lab Field Kit was an at-home STEM project launched in 2020 to teach kids the basics of product design and development through the lens of fabric science. The kit invited inquisitive minds to become “Mº Lab Secret Agents” - learning about material science, the chemistry of dyeing, and manufacturing through a microscope, while building their own gear (i.e. face mask) for a “top secret mission” in our new normal.
#ScienceForBetter
We’re immensely proud of the Mº Lab Field Kit, and hope it will inspire young minds not only served directly by Mbadika, but around the world. As such, every Mº Lab Field Kit purchase will provide a Mº Lab Field Kit for a Boston Public School student this Winter.
Despite being inspired by the greatest fictional spy in film history, we don’t want to keep this project a secret. In order to increase access to the Mº Lab Field Kit, we are making the freely and publicly available for download here, along with a “shopping list” of materials to acquire - many of which families can already find at home - in order to explore fabric science.
With your help, we can foster creativity and usher in a new generation of science lovers.
Mº Lab Collaborations
Special thanks to our contributors and partners at Mbadika, The Good Pencil Company, Outlast Technologies, New England Die Cutting, and Singtex.