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The energy is electric at Michigan Technological University as 164 fourth graders from Michigan’s western Upper Peninsula trade their traditional desks for a day of high-tech exploration. The students are here to pilot Stories & Semiconductors, a new educational series. By following the adventures of characters who solve problems through electronics, young students don’t just read about technology; they build it themselves.
Created by entrepreneur and research scientist Joe Licavoli-Wall, Stories & Semiconductors introduces young learners to complex concepts, like electrons, atoms, and bonding, and how those affect a material's conductivity. They’re also learning how semiconductors allow us to make tiny microchips, and how those microchips allow computers to talk in code to do useful things. Morse code was integrated into the student exercises to demonstrate how short and long beeps are similar to binary code used in programming.
Fourth graders from several local schools—Dollar Bay, Barkell, Calumet, and Copper Island Academy—visited Michigan Tech for an all-day launch of the series last fall. By all accounts, the inaugural event was a huge success.
“It's important for kids to have mentors and people to look up to when they are exploring technology,” Licavoli-Wall said.
Michigan Tech Professor Chris Middlebrook provided lab space, electronics expertise, and recruited a small army of ECE students to join the effort. “Stories & Semiconductors paves the way for a next-level approach to experiential learning,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun but also technically advanced, in order to challenge younger kids.”
To continue reading this article, which appeared in the May 2026 SMT007 Magazine, click here.
