Edgerton Center

The Edgerton Center offers a wide variety of subjects for both undergraduate and graduate students, and provides resources and opportunities for students to pursue hands-on projects, UROPs, and other activities.

Named for Professor Harold "Doc" Edgerton, whose high-speed photography legacy lives on with the Strobe Alley exhibition of Edgerton's photographs, the center can provide students with a workplace, a place to test equipment, access to the Student Machine Shop, as well as advice and encouragement. The 4-402 classroom and Strobe Lab are located in Strobe Alley on the fourth floor of Building 4, as is the Student Project Lab (4-409). 4-409 lab is equipped with hand tools, a sewing machine, soldering tools, electronics prototyping tools, and basic test equipment. For more information on using these facilities, contact Jim Bales (Strobe), Amy Fitzgerald (4-402 classroom), or Justin Schmidt (4-409)

Subjects offered include introductory electronics, digital photography, and classes in international development (D-Lab classes). In addition, Doc Edgerton's Strobe Project Laboratory 6.163 is taught each term by Associate Director Jim Bales.

The Edgerton Student Shop in 6C-006 offers regular training sessions in the use of CNC mills, lathes, a 3-D printer, and more. The Area 51 CNC Machine Shop is located on the first floor of N51. The first floor fabrication facility—with CNC milling and lathe machines, an injection molding machine, a thermal forming machine, and a water-jet cutting machine—is available to students on clubs and teams, D-Lab, and to the students, faculty, and staff of the International Design Center. The third floor space, the Milk Drop Shop, is used by clubs and teams for small-scale project work. Both Area 51 and 4-409 are MakerLodges, part of Project Manus.

The center supports 17 student clubs and teams including the Solar Electric Vehicle Team, the Driverless team, Motorsports, and more. We provide teams with a space to work, machining equipment, some funding, administrative support, and advising. Students interested in proposing a new team can fill out an application form or email Chris Mayer.

The Edgerton Center K–12 Outreach Program gives MIT students an on-campus opportunity to teach engineering and science to 4th through 8th graders from area schools. Topics include mechanical engineering, circuits, optics, biology, and more. Contact Amy Fitzgerald or call 617-253-7931 to become involved.