A New Era of Innovation: Aiglon's new A.I.R and E.T Labs

We are proud to announce the opening of two new spaces at Aiglon College: the Applied Innovation & Robotics Lab (A.I.R Lab) and the Emerging Technologies Lab (E.T Lab). 

These new labs will provide students with more opportunities to explore the worlds of robotics and emerging technologies in a hands-on and engaging environment. The Aiglon approach to technology is very much focused on learning by doing, “hands on” and understanding that you can learn as much, if not more, from a project that fails. In the real world very few things work perfectly the first time, resilience, trial, error and grit build success. We believe these spaces will empower students and staff to explore and create with technology and artificial intelligence (AI). They are spaces where students can come and say “ I want to build a ….. “ and we will have the space, tools, time and talent to help them do just that.

A Closer Look at the New Labs

The AIR Lab has three distinct zones: a classroom, a workshop, and a competition room with permanent VEX and LEGO arenas. This space will be the new home for Aiglon's competitive LEGO and VEX teams. It is also a space for students to explore and build their own robotics engineering projects. The lab has initially been equipped with a range of hand held tools, 3D printers, Computer Numerical Control (CNC) routers, laser cutters, Vinyl cutters, bench drills and even has an embroidery machine. We will also add over the course of the year more equipment, giving students the tools to bring their ideas to life. We also see the AIR Lab as an additional social hub where after school and at weekends students can work on their team robots or their own bespoke projects. This recent article highlights that robotics is not simply about technical skills like coding or engineering. It is about relationships, team work, collaboration, and finding your own solutions to problems. 

The ET Lab promises to be a “voyage of discovery”. A space where students can experiment with new tools, technologies and innovations. This is a space where we can truly say, "That is new and cool, let us get some and try it" allowing students to gain hands-on experience with the technologies of tomorrow, today. The ET Lab will also provide a permanent home for our growing Esports teams, which also includes our simracers. 

A Community of Innovators

These new labs are a testament to our school's vision of preparing students for “... tomorrow and a world in constant change ”. We believe that learning is not confined to the classroom and that experiential learning helps make knowledge come to life. These new spaces will do just that.

We warmly invite our parents and alumni to visit our campus and see these new spaces. If you have expertise in robotics, engineering, esports or emerging technologies that you are willing to talk about and share with our students, please get in touch with us. Your insights and experience could be an invaluable part of our students' journey. 

Finally, this significant enhancement to our innovation and technology facilities has been made possible through the generous philanthropic support of Aiglon parents.

Darren Wise, Director of Technology & Digital Strategy