Announcing the 2023 Infy Makers Awards Winners!

Infosys Foundation USA is proud to recognize the 10 amazing educators, museums and organizations who have been honored as the 2023 Infy Makers Award winners. These awards celebrate the dedication and innovation of leaders from communities across the US who are committed to fostering inclusive computer science through maker education.

The Infy Makers Awards, a flagship program of Infosys Foundation USA, were open to educators and organizations nationwide who aspire to engage students in the world of computer science through dynamic maker education. Each of the 10 winning organizations will receive a $10,000 grant and the unique opportunity to participate in the Making CS Inclusive professional learning experience led by the leading education non-profit organization, Digital Promise.

Coming from diverse backgrounds - representing K-12 schools, libraries, museums and makerspaces - these visionary educators will be creating hands-on, experiential, and inclusive opportunities for students to learn computer science in personally meaningful ways, helping them understand how it's relevant to the real world and to their lives. Additionally, several of the winners are working with underserved students and underrepresented students in STEM, including students who are neurodiverse or have disabilities.

We are proud to recognize and celebrate the following winners:

John Acevedo, Amber Charter Schools (New York, NY)
John will purchase a laser cutter, filter, associated technology, supplies, and develop curricula to further create a maker education program and space and associated STEAM skills for middle school students at Amber Charter Schools. The laser cutter will give all students, including neurodiverse learners, the use of more tactile materials to learn and test their engineering/robotics hypotheses.
Watch his video here.

Jeff Branson, The Possible Zone (Boston, MA)
Jeff, in collaboration with subject matter experts from MIT’s Personal Robots Group, will develop and deliver a 16-hour immersive deep dive experience around reinforcement learning, AI, and robotics with under-represented students in STEAM. This will have a direct impact on 20 Boston area high school students and the reach will extend through the organization’s learning network to Boston Public School teachers via Professional Learning opportunities that will be hosted throughout 2024.
Watch his video here.

Aynul Dean, B M Hanson Elementary School (Harvey, ND)
Aynul will engage students in hands-on computer science experiences through Lego robotics competitions. Students will have the opportunity to use programmable circuits, robots, drones and Lego Spike products. A portion of the award will also be used to train educators in teaching CS concepts and guiding maker activities at the elementary school level.
Watch her video here.

Kate Dillon, Farmington Middle School (Farmington, MO)
Kate will create a supportive makerspace initiative called Making Knights for middle school students to join and become collaborative leaders that create and engage in computer science infused maker activities. The students will then teach, model, and share these experiences with intermediate level students, during family nights at the elementary schools, and through partnerships with local businesses to provide STEM activities for the community.
Watch her video here.

Julie Gauthier, MakerspaceCT (Hartford, CT)
Jullie will develop a program called ‘Girls in Gaming,’ focused on inspiring the next generation of female designers, creators, and engineers. During the program, participants learn game development fundamentals while working in teams to create a fully functional game. Each student will develop her own video game through a guided program, demonstrating the education-to-career transition. The entry level curriculum is flexible to accommodate the targeted age group and beginner coding level.
Watch her video here.

Pam Lilley, William Amos Hough High School (Cornelius, NC)
Pam will acquire technology that will help the school scale up the makerspace launched last year, which currently includes a Cricut, MakeyMakeys, a Hummingbird kit, and other elements. The next phase of the makerspace was always intended to emphasize higher-end technology to support classes in career technical education, art, computer science, and occupational career studies.
Watch her video here.

Kirsa Merrell, Spanish Fork Public Library (Spanish Fork, UT)
Kirsa and the Spanish Fork Public Library team will create two mobile outreach units (one robotics lab and one maker lab) to take into schools and the community. Funds will be used for supplies, advertising, and stipends for community presenters.
Watch her video here.

Cindy Miller, Duluth Public Schools (Duluth, MN)
Cindy and fellow colleagues will expand the variety of tools and equipment available for maker-centered learning in the district’s K-5 library media centers and 6th and 8th grade tech classes. They will also develop professional development resources to support media specialists and teachers in the district in bringing maker education into their classrooms.
Watch her video here.

Tiffany Pace, Cross Lanes Elementary (Charleston, WV)
Tiffany will engage her students in learning the various aspects of coding including sequences, loops, inputs, outputs, and debugging through the use of Lego Education classroom sets. Students will build off these learning experiences through real-world STEM Maker challenges. The challenges will allow her students to undergo the Engineering Design Process while creating items such as transportation devices for given variables, carnival games to understand energy conversion, and amusement park rides that are modified to meet the needs of others.
Watch her video here.

Jen Parsons, Ohio Valley Museum of Discovery (Athens, OH)
The Ohio Valley Museum of Discovery team will expand its Discovery Lab program for middle and high school students in Appalachian southeast Ohio, particularly those facing structural and systemic challenges. Through engaging STEM, maker, and computer science experiences, Discovery Lab connects students to STEM and computer science careers, encourages innovation and exploration, and breaks down barriers to participation for diverse learners.
Watch here video here.