Maker Cities will provide South Florida adults with advanced manufacturing training, professional mentorship, financial support, and experience designing a full-scale civic project for Lincoln Road.

MIAMI BEACH, FL — Moonlighter FabLab is proud to announce that it has received federal funding from the National Science Foundation to launch Maker Cities: Expanding Access to Advanced Manufacturing Training Through an Experiential Learning Model, a new workforce development initiative based in Miami Beach.

The 26-month initiative is supported through the National Science Foundation’s Experiential Learning for Emerging and Novel Technologies—or ExLENT—program. The first Maker Cities cohort will begin in January 2026, with a second cohort planned for January 2027.

Maker Cities will serve 40 adult learners across two cohorts, creating an accessible pathway into careers that use emerging technologies. The program is designed especially for adults with limited previous access to formal STEM education or technical training.

Each cohort of 20 participants will complete an intensive, studio-based learning experience combining advanced manufacturing, design thinking, entrepreneurship, civic placemaking, and professional mentorship. Participants will learn to use industry-standard technologies and processes, including computer-aided design and manufacturing, 3D printing, laser cutting, CNC milling, rapid prototyping, and digital fabrication.

“This investment allows us to create a new kind of workforce development program—one that combines technical training with creativity, entrepreneurship, mentorship, and a real project that directly benefits our community,” said Thomas Pupo, Executive Director of Moonlighter FabLab and Principal Investigator for the project. “Participants will not simply learn how to operate advanced manufacturing equipment. They will use these technologies to collaborate, solve a meaningful civic challenge, and produce work they can carry into their future careers.”

Learning by Building for Miami Beach

At the center of the program is a full-scale civic placemaking project developed for Lincoln Road in the City of Miami Beach.

Participants will research the site, collect community and stakeholder input, study public-space design, develop proposals, build prototypes, and present their concepts to a panel of professional designers, engineers, planners, civic leaders, and community stakeholders.

Following the final presentations, one proposal will be selected for full-scale fabrication and installation. The entire cohort will then work together to refine, manufacture, assemble, and install the project using Moonlighter FabLab’s advanced manufacturing equipment.

The project gives participants experience similar to working within a professional design, engineering, or fabrication studio. Along the way, they will practice project management, budgeting, client communication, public presentation, collaborative problem-solving, and production planning.

The completed installation will provide participants with a prominent built project for their professional portfolios while introducing thousands of Miami Beach residents and visitors to the possibilities of locally driven design and advanced manufacturing.

Reducing Barriers to Workforce Participation

Maker Cities is structured to reduce the financial and practical barriers that often prevent adults from participating in extended workforce training.

Program support includes:

• A participation stipend for each selected learner
• Access to loaner laptops and professional design software
• Advanced manufacturing training and equipment certifications
• Materials for prototypes and personal projects
• A one-year sponsored residency at Moonlighter FabLab
• Continued discounted FabLab membership for program alumni
• Professional mentorship and career exploration
• Portfolio development, professional headshots, and recommendations
• Opportunities to connect with employers, designers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and civic leaders

Through these resources, participants will be able to build technical proficiency while developing the confidence, professional networks, and real-world experience needed to pursue employment, continued education, or entrepreneurial ventures in emerging technology fields.

A Cross-Sector Partnership for Miami Beach

Maker Cities brings together nonprofit, academic, municipal, civic, research, and industry partners to create a locally grounded workforce development model.

Moonlighter FabLab will lead program design, administration, curriculum development, technical training, fabrication, and participant support. The Miami Beach nonprofit will also serve as the primary classroom and fabrication facility for the program.

Boston University, through Dr. Eli Tucker-Raymond of the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, will lead the project’s research activities and help document how experiential learning, mentorship, and advanced manufacturing training influence adult learners’ skills, confidence, motivation, and pathways into STEM-related work.

The City of Miami Beach will serve as a public-sector partner, connecting participants with the municipal departments and civic stakeholders involved in implementing a project within the city’s public realm. Collaboration may include departments working in public works, capital improvements, arts and culture, economic development, parks, and other areas related to the project.

The Lincoln Road Business Improvement District, led by Executive Director Anabel Llopis, will serve as the real-world client and liaison for businesses, property owners, community members, and other stakeholders connected to the Lincoln Road project site.

Dr. Idaykis Rodriguez, an associate teaching professor at Florida International University’s STEM Transformation Institute, will serve as the project’s independent evaluator, providing formative and summative evaluation of participant outcomes, program implementation, partnerships, and long-term sustainability.

Design thinking and entrepreneurship programming will be supported by Gustavo Grande, who brings more than a decade of experience in entrepreneurship education, mentorship, and community-based professional development.

Participants will also receive guidance from a multidisciplinary network of industry mentors representing product design, engineering, architecture, advanced manufacturing, civic planning, placemaking, sustainable design, public-space development, and entrepreneurship.

Program mentors and collaborators include professionals affiliated with  Studio James Brazil, Dr. David Rifkind, Dover, Kohl & Partners, Street Plans, MHCP Colab, Sherryl Muriente, Abel Bajuelo, ProFacade, and more!

Together, these partners will provide guest lectures, project critiques, individual mentoring, career guidance, and professional feedback throughout the program.

Building a National Model from Miami Beach

In addition to serving South Florida participants, Maker Cities will study how community fabrication laboratories can become accessible centers for adult workforce development.

Moonlighter FabLab and its partners will document the curriculum, partnership structure, participant support systems, evaluation findings, and lessons learned through the two cohorts. The project will culminate in a publicly available playbook intended to help FabLabs, makerspaces, municipalities, workforce organizations, and community institutions implement similar experiential learning programs throughout the United States.

“Miami Beach provides an extraordinary environment for this work,” Pupo said. “It is a place where design, culture, tourism, technology, public life, and entrepreneurship intersect. Maker Cities gives local residents an opportunity to help shape that environment while preparing for the industries and technologies that will define the future of work.”

Recruitment for the inaugural cohort will include informational sessions, community outreach, and an open application process. Additional enrollment information, eligibility requirements, and program dates will be announced through Moonlighter FabLab’s website and social media channels. Interested in participating? Visit www.maker-cities.com

The NSF-supported project is titled “Explorations: Expanding Access to Advanced Manufacturing Training Through an Experiential Learning Model” and is associated with NSF Proposal/Award No. 2526134. The project period begins September 1, 2025, and the first participant cohort begins in January 2026.

About Moonlighter FabLab

Moonlighter FabLab is a nonprofit community fabrication laboratory, makerspace, and STEAM learning center located in Miami Beach, Florida. The organization expands access to advanced manufacturing tools, emerging technologies, creative learning, and entrepreneurship through youth education, adult workforce development, community workshops, exhibitions, professional memberships, internships, and it annual event, Maker Faire Miami.

Moonlighter FabLab provides access to technologies including 3D printing, laser cutting, CNC machining, electronics, robotics, digital design, and other fabrication processes. Through its partnership with The City of Miami Beach, and partnerships with schools, universities, other government agencies, cultural organizations, businesses, and community groups, Moonlighter FabLab helps learners of all ages transform ideas into prototypes, products, public projects, and new professional opportunities.

Media Contact

Moonlighter FabLab
1661 Pennsylvania Avenue
Miami Beach, Florida 33139
admin@moonlighterfablab.org
305-699-2041
moonlighterfablab.org