2.S994: Pappalardo Lab Apprentice

Spring | Undergraduate | 12 Units | Prerequisites: 2.670, 2.007, and permission from the instructor

The Pappalardo Apprentice series is designed to further develop fabrication skills, and provide mentor training and opportunities for peer-to-peer mentoring. Our objective is to push the boundaries of the lab experience, further developing your skills and the workspace as one of the safest, most productive, positive, and creative labs on campus. The program has two primary areas of emphasis: 

1. Peer mentoring. You will be an undergraduate lab assistant for 2.007. This will require signing-on to a regularly scheduled 2.007 lab section and an additional three-hour lab block, to assist 2.007 students with fabrication, including machining, hand-tool use, materials and supplies assistance, brainstorming, and general peer-to-peer support.

2. Project work.Apprentices will participate in a series of seminars and clinics to refresh and further their fabrication knowledge and hands-on skills, including mill and lathe use, CAD/CAM, patternmaking, and casting (for senior project). Weekly seminars and practicum cover a variety of topics such as shop best practices, machine setup, chip formation, fixturing, material selection, and physical metallurgy. Junior apprentices will fabricate a Stirling engine and returning senior apprentices will focus on copper alloys, continuing to fabricate a replica of an 1899 anchor windlass from the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, used on the famous New York 70 class sloops. Lab use for project work will be scheduled around 2.007 and requires apprentices to be largely self-directed. 

This is a limited enrollment course, and students are encouraged to apply by sending resume and portfolio to pappalardolab@mit.edu, by midnight, December 31, 2023, with subject line “Pappalardo Lab Apprentice Application”. We will respond by January 19, 2024.