Steampunkinetics: Building Art into Science

Creative Workshop for Autistic Students

Client : UMass Lowell
Location : Lowell, MA
Description : 8 ft. tall Rube Goldberg-like kinetic sculpture
Materials : Repurposed wood, metal, electronics and found objects
Timeline : 2 months prep, 9-week program

Challenge: How to encourage autistic students to communicate with others, reduce anxiety, and work in a team setting.

Solution: Engage students in an activity that captures their imagination and to give them a shared goal to build a sculpture together, that will coordinate and work with the other teams.

In partnership with UMASS Lowell’s Professor Ashleigh Hillier (PhD) — ModVic developed a 9-week Steampunkinetics Educational Program.

Fifteen autistic students, boys and girls aged from 13 to 23 participated in the program where they worked in small groups to design and build their own Steampunk House ‘room’ Rube Goldberg-like contraption — then they had to work with the other groups to tie all the rooms together so a ball would follow along a track from the attic to the basement.

“Ultimately, the goal was to help the participants increase self-esteem, improve attitudes toward peers, reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, and foster collaboration, communication, and the sharing of ideas,” said Professor Hilllier. “Things that don’t always come easy to those on the autism spectrum.

“After the Steampunkinetics class, Andrek would actually talk about it, and share his ideas with us. That was a huge leap for him” – Parent of a student participant.

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Following the successful UMass Lowell program, Steampunkinetics workshops have also been hosted by a local summer camp:

“We’ve loved having Bruce Rosenbaum and his Steampunkinetics crew with us at Camp Ramah New England! Our kids have loved this program, which has involved repurposing 60 year old milk crates and an array of other antique objects in order to create awesome and dynamic rolling-ball interactive sculptures. It’s a great way for our kids to explore STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) principles while also creating unique, beautiful interactive art exhibitions to be proudly displayed all around camp. Bruce and his team are knowledgeable and friendly and easy to work with, and the end results of their program are always amazing!”

Josh Edelglass