Into the Wonder is our first learning experience
in the series, and it’s co-created with educator
Carlos Espinosa. Into the Wonder questions the
exploration and commercialization of space, and
invites learners to design their space mission and
create a rover using AR and robotics.
My dream is to amplify and scale the voice
of extraordinary teachers who support their
students in creating open-ended projects. I want
to open-source our design so everyone can cut
it and upcycle cardboard into learning materials,
because learning through projects doesn't
require fancy, expensive materials and step-by-
step instructions.
#3
Learn to Solder Kits, est. 2015
Share The Love of Making
By Emma Fletcher
In 2015 when I volunteered at an all-day
engineering outreach conference, an event for
local high school girls, I wanted to share my
love of making with them. I led a workshop on
soldering, and I was sure I would inspire at least
a few girls to become electrical engineers by the
end of the day. That wasn’t how it turned out.
The event organizers had purchased some
low-cost soldering kits with many components.
It was a challenging task to teach safety, explain
soldering techniques, and expect the students
to finish it all within an hour. By the end of the
workshop, not a single kit was working. Half were
finished but had broken during assembly, and the
other half were incomplete. Worst of all, I had not
been able to share the joy of building electronics
with the students.
There had to be a better way to teach soldering.
I decided that if the kit I wanted didn’t exist then
I would create it. My requirements were that it
would be simple enough to complete in a 30- to
60-minute workshop and that every kit would
work at the end. I made a simple design of three
pushbuttons and three LEDs. It was interactive
and every student could walk away with a feeling
of accomplishment.
I ordered my first run of printed circuit boards,
a total quantity of 60. Sixty boards seemed like
a lot but that was the minimum quantity I could
order and still get the bulk discount. How would
I find 60 people who wanted to purchase simple
soldering kits? I decided not to worry about it
and instead focused on sourcing parts. Once
everything arrived, I packed up the first five dozen
kits and printed some labels designed in MS
Paint. The first run of Blink Learn to Solder Kit
was ready to go.
I posted on Facebook, reaching out to other
makers and engineering educators. Within the
first day, I sold 25. All 60 were gone by the end of
the week. I placed another board order and set
up a small table for kit assembly. Before I knew it,
I had schools asking for bulk discounts, and the
Learn to Solder Kits brand was born.
From there, I decided to expand the line of kits
we were offering. I partnered with Andy Colborn
and created two more kits. The Hue kit features
a large RGB LED and three potentiometers.
Jitterbug is a fun bug-shaped board with vibration
motors and two glowing red eyes. We opened an
online store and made all the kits certified open
source hardware.
Our kits are now shipped all over the United
States and even internationally. Last year we
shipped over 8,000 kits. This year in March I made
the decision to leave my job as a software engineer
and go full-time on Learn to Solder Kits. It is still
early days for me in this transition but so far I am
loving it! Not only do I get to focus on something I
love each day but the business is growing. We’re
on track this year to double the number of units
shipped annually. While I may not have created
any electrical engineers at my first workshop, that
failure ignited a business that has had a far further
reach than I could have imagined.
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make.co
KitCo, Learn to Solder Kits
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