Colab Principal, Melissa Hege, Presents to Moonlighter FabLab's Maker Cities 2026 Cohort

In partnership with Moonlighter FabLab, a non-profit fabrication studio based in Miami Beach, Melissa Hege shared approaches to design thinking with students. The process varies with each project, but the basics are always the same: define the problem, confirm the data, work with the community, conduct behavioral observations, research design solutions, build support.

Students are working for the next 20-weeks to research, design and build a design intervention. Colab is excited to be a part of the process and provide office hours and participate in selecting the best project for installation on Lincoln Road. More to come!

Maker Cities is a 20-week NSF-aligned studio program exploring how advanced manufacturing technologies—including digital fabrication, CAD/CAM workflows, and computational design—are transforming architectural engineering, industrial design, and manufacturing. Through hands-on fabrication, design thinking, and collaboration with civic partners, participants develop and deploy an urban-scale intervention for the City of Miami Beach, culminating in a full-scale public installation on Lincoln Road.