The concept of learning things by doing things is as old as mankind itself. The first man did not learn how to create fire by reading a book, they struck stones together and interpreted the results. When it comes to effectively learning something new, especially something from the science and technology sector, then the value of hands-on learning is beyond doubt and debate.

Any school that is geared towards bringing up youngsters with in-depth knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts will want to set up a stem lab in school. This dedicated area, also known as a makerspace, tinkering lab, or learning lab is excellent for youngsters to quickly digest basic and complex science concepts and develop a design-oriented mindset with great problem-solving skills and critical analysis.

Advantages of building a STEM lab

So far, young students have not been much better than educational zombies. They consume knowledge at a great rate ‒ even better since the accessibility of smartphones ‒ but they are stuck with being passive consumers. Not being able to use knowledge in action in real life cripples a person intellectually. A crippled mind is a devil’s playground for pseudoscience. 

But at age, you can’t cure this. That is why to build a nation with a solidly firm scientifically-minded backbone, one has to teach scientific concepts with technological hands-on work from a very young age. In foreign nations, they start this process as early as grades 2 and above. Surely we can implement it at grades 6+ here.

A STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) lab oriented education transforms a passive learner to an active creator. Makerspaces or STEM innovation labs in schools provide a perfect environment for young minds to glow bright with technical creativity. It takes learning beyond textbooks and into first-hand live experiences. 

True, there already are physics, chemistry, and biology labs existing in school. But their scopes are limited and they are way too complex and specific for youngsters. Also ‒ old! To learn 21-century skills and technical know-how, you have to have a learning space compatible with modern skillsets ‒ creative and design-oriented thinking, critical thinking, problem solving, analytical mindset, etc. 

But that’s not all. A STEM lab is more than just a personal playground ‒ it is a teamwork effort. It teaches students communication skills, empathy and resilience. And teachers can observe groups of students poring over a project and identify each one’s characteristics precisely, which is very hard in classrooms. So, STEM labs also help teach better and to fill out every student’s needs. No one will be left behind!

Moreover, obviously your primary concern is that your students find success in their future careers. To that end, you must know that industry needs in the job market have changed drastically in recent years. Even ten years ago, standard college degrees were good enough to get you a starting job ‒ but not anymore. Nowadays, companies require much more sound knowledge of 21st century technologies and soft skills, not to mention good communication skills and teamwork and analytical thinking skills. A makerspace is the best place to pick these up early in life.

How to set up a STEM Lab

1. Get the furniture

We don’t often think of the furniture when we think of a laboratory, but that’s hugely underrated. Properly configured work surfaces are what you will need to be successful. To that end, a STEM lab needs modular, sturdy furniture that are easy to move as well. They should include the following:

• General work tables (hexagonal or rectangular)
• Electronics workbench
• Soldering booth
• Tools and heavy work station
• 3D printing station
• Robotics workbench
• Robotics testing table
• Computer stations
• Teacher’s or lab instructor’s table
• Emergency booth
• Open and locked storage cabinets (could be integrated with other furniture)
• Rough mat to clean shoes
• Chairs or lab stools (as necessary)

Make sure the furniture are from a good, reputed brand.

2. Get STEM lab equipment

STEM labs need mostly DIY (Do-It-Yourself) kits and similar equipment. Labkafe provides full packages of such fun and easy DIY STEM kits for all levels; consult our STEM lab package page to learn more. These specially designed STEM classroom bundles provide all a child needs to begin his or her journey into the world of science, electronics, programming, and robotics. 

3. Get other equipment

The basic idea behind a STEM lab learning is to make and break and make things again. And kids love making and breaking things. So make sure that your school STEM lab is well supplied with toy and diy construction materials such as glue, scissors, paper, tapes, cardboard etc. at all times. Once they get the motivation and the material, they become unstoppable. 

The next part is to get computers. Since everything is online these days, computers with internet access have become indispensable. Kids will need them to get DIY videos, tutorials, manuals etc. Also, they can access online software like TinkerCAD etc. There are many resources available online that the STEM lab instructor also can utilize.

4. Get a 3D printer (optional)

They are costly, but they are fun and useful! 3D printers come in all shapes and sizes but you can make do with a basic one. With it, kids can build custom parts for their projects and make cheap prototypes for testing. Try getting a standard desktop 3D printer that’s good for small projects and visualizing complex concepts. 

5. Ready the curriculums

You can bring all the furniture and materials you want, but without guidance all that would be useless. Prepare a proper STEM class curriculum for your lab (or get some resources that are available online). This will be useful for your lesson planning and also to let parents know what they can expect their kids to get involved in. This is a good idea since honestly STEM isn’t yet well-known in India yet and thus all kinds of guidance and educatives are welcome.

6. Create the atmosphere

A STEM lab is more than just the room and its content and its lessons. It is all about taking a holistic approach to make a wholesome atmosphere supporting innovation, concept absorption and creativity. An inspiring and supportive ambiance is exactly what kids need to grow their STEM skills. Without it, the lab will fail to nurture capable students and inspire others.

So, how to create such an environment? Firstly, visual stimulation works great, so give the room the best decorations you can that supports STEM work ‒ with colorful charts, infographics, instruction, pictures, even inspirational quotes and science symbols work well. 

Secondly, hire somebody special to do the teaching. The STEM lab instructor/teacher should be playful, expressive, burning with curiosity and wise about the real-life applications of the concepts they would be teaching. They should remember that the school STEM lab is half learning and half play.

In a Nutshell

A STEM lab for schools is all about having fun while you learn. It requires a lot of enthusiasm to create what was not created, to make what does not exist, to explore the vast avenues of science and technology, and the drive to find satisfaction in creation. To that end, a STEM lab provides young students with all the 21st century skills that they need to survive the new world. These include design-oriented thinking, critical analysis, logical reasoning, creative approach, and problem-solving skills. 

We know that setting up a STEM lab for schools is not an easy task. That is why Labkafe provides full guidance and hand-holding throughout custom STEM lab projects. We also smoothen the process by offering STEM lab packages with all kinds of DIY kits your young students will have fun tweaking. Come to Labkafe to set up your makerspace today!

The post How to Build a STEM Lab in Schools | Labkafe appeared first on Labkafe Blog.

Building or thinking about a new laboratory for your school, institute, or personal use? Since labs don’t fall under any regular or standardized category, figuring one out is rather difficult. But don’t worry! Here we are with a minty-fresh lab equipment buying guide from Labkafe. This article will help you ascertain what lab equipment you need, how much of them do you need, and where to buy lab equipment.

There are always two parts of any laboratory ‒ lab furniture and lab equipment. We have covered  how to buy lab furniture for school labs previously, and even published guides on  laboratory wall decor and  lab flooring . Now this guide to buy equipment for laboratories will help you with lab apparatus, lab glassware, lab instruments, and lab machines.

To be sure, deciding on, procuring, and managing laboratory equipment is difficult work. To make it easier, let’s take baby steps ‒ by beginning at the beginning.

To Start A Laboratory

To begin with, what is the type of laboratory that you need? In India, laboratories vary by their levels. At school levels, you have laboratories of the most common kind ‒ composite labs for class IX-X, and physics, chemistry, and biology labs for class XI-XII. There is also a  mathematics lab for schools that need it. Recently we are seeing developments in labs of other subjects like sociology and geography as well. For even younger students, there is the  STEM lab facility.

When you get to the university level, the picture changes dramatically. There are simply too many different kinds of college labs to mention here, and all of them have different lab equipment and lab instrument needs. We can talk about those separately, another day.

Therefore, let’s assume you’re building a lab for your school. But what exactly is your goal? There are two reasons to buy lab equipment for schools ‒  either to make a new lab for affiliation purposes, or to upgrade an existing laboratory. Either way, you have some hardcore spreadsheet work before you.

Count Your Chickens

This is the part where we deal with the “what I need” matter. Each laboratory has two dimensions ‒ the first is the count of different lab equipment, and the second is their quantity, a derivative of the count of users. You have to chalk up both dimensions.

Let us explain with an example. The CBSE composite lab, for affiliation purposes, has to follow the  NCERT science lab syllabus directly. That some schools choose to make slight adjustments to it is another matter, and you shouldn’t practice this anyway. Be that as it may, the syllabus has 36 different experiments (and variations or sub-work). That requires a whopping 272 different kinds of equipment! Further, as per affiliation rules, a CBSE composite lab has to cater to at least 30 students at once. That takes the count of lab equipment that you will need near half a thousand.

To be sure, ledgering out five hundred lab equipment is no small task and at first you may feel like drowning. Sure, you can try talking to other schools or beg your contacts to get a full list of lab equipment, but they are 1) very hard to come by, 2) people who have them guard them jealously, and 3) there is definitely a trust factor involved here. 

We at Labkafe understand this perfectly, and have a particularly useful solution for this:  lab equipment packages . Labkafe has preconfigured affiliation packages for different labs for all boards (CBSE, ICSE, ISC,  IGCSE, State Boards, etc.) which are handmade to fulfill the respective curriculums precisely and perfectly. If you are interested in building a CBSE composite lab, as per the ongoing example, you can just order a  CBSE composite lab package from us and be worry-free.

But that’s not all. We would not want you to blindly order something just because you read it here. Instead, how about doing some homework about the quality? You should always check the markets to see which brands provide the best quality lab equipment, apparatus, lab aprons, and glassware. Then crosscheck with your chosen vendor to see if they can give you those brands as well. For example, Borosil, Tarsons, and Polylab are the most well-known names in the lab ware industry for quality, and therefore  Labkafe has joined up with them as well.

Laboratory Items come with different quality levels. The regular quality items are cheaper but not much dependable. The superior quality items are the very best, but will cost you a pretty penny. Lab instrument accuracy will depend upon their quality and manufacturer, and the effectiveness of chemicals and other consumables will depend greatly on their brand. 

Choose Your Champion

Once you have your list of lab equipment ready for physics lab, biology lab, chemistry lab, or composite lab (or any other labs for that matter), your next job is to find a proper lab equipment supplier. This is the part with the most amount of original research, since it is a very bad idea to depend upon the first vendor you come across with a simple “lab equipment near me” search. Sure, private references are great too ‒ but it still is just word of mouth, so best do your homework first.

A proper, reliable laboratory equipment supplier will not only be reputed on paper, but they will be able to  prove their references . The salespersons of a genuinely good company will always be ready with connections. The more references you can get, the better. Also check if they have worked with government agencies or institutes ‒ this will prove invaluable.

For a better experience, we recommend that you prefer OEMs over resellers. Original Equipment Manufacturers will provide you better quality at more affordable prices, will give you flexible choices, and what’s most important ‒ will provide you with good aftersales service.

Which brings us to our next point. In the laboratory industry, good aftersales service is as crucial as it is rare. Most vendors work in a fire-and-forget manner and don’t look back to a customer. Which puts the customer at a disadvantage. There are only a very few companies that give true unlimited support and an ironclad warranty. With such a vendor, you can rest assured that your interests are taken care of properly. This, then, should form one of the pillars of your procurement management.

Money Matters

Ah, the budget! It is a painful subject in any society and schools are no exception. One always wants the best for one’s students. Certainly you want your kids to get the most out of their practical education, in compliance with the  National Education Policy 2020 and global trends. 

That being said, one always finds oneself short of budget, right? Your lab equipment list and labware vendor both must conform with the budget; else all is lost. Few opportunities are given to us to extend our budgets, and saying “it’s for the good of the students” doesn’t seem to be a viable option these days. (Or ever.) 

So, here we are chiseling off portions from our procurement list to make it slimmer. With lab equipment, you can do it two ways:

1. Trim out the experiments. Most cheap schools go this way, not choosing to complete the practical syllabus. Only backbenchers will applaud this.
2. Manage the consumables. More often than not, the consumables get a bigger chunk out of the budget than the equipment themselves. For example, test tubes are cheap and you can buy tons of them, but the reagents that go inside them are so prohibitively expensive that many local vendors don’t even stock some of the most important ones. You can work with your vendor to carefully trim out these lab supplies and work out alternatives.

While the need to conform to your budget is necessary, a word to the wise. The really good stuff in this world never comes cheap ‒ and we should never compromise on education. Reaching a good platform between quality and price is key to your lab’s success ‒ and the future of anyone who uses it.

Another way to save is to buy things in packs. Instead of buying items separately, you would find it much more profitable to buy lab packages and lab aprons packs. Of course, everyone has local choices and needs, and that may force your hand. It would be best if your lab equipment supplier provides customizable lab packages, offering you room to maneuver as well as cost savings. 

In A Nutshell

Making a new laboratory for a school is never easy, and it is even harder for new schools. Today we tried to make the process easier by offering you this lab equipment buying guide. Long story short: list out exactly what you need, find a reputed seller, and hash out a good price eyeing your budget. 

Checking out the equipment (especially the glassware) when they get delivered is a great idea too. A good lab equipment seller will do this onsite inspection automatically and should provide free replacements if anything came out wrong while unpacking. Additionally, Labkafe also gives free installation services, in tune with our vision to spread accessible lab education to every corner of the country.

The post Labkafe’s Lab Equipment Buying Guide 2022 appeared first on Labkafe Blog.

A school lab consumes various kinds of materials, like lab glassware, equipment, chemicals, support items, and so on. All of these have certain quality standards ‒ you can’t just buy something off the street and expect good results. For example, the reagents you use in your chemistry and biology labs come in various qualities, and almost certainly the cheaper one from the street is little more than colored water. This is why you need a trustworthy laboratory item vendor like Labkafe.

1. Nationally and Internationally Certified

Labkafe, the company and its products and services are recognized by many top-tier national and international quality control organizations like the ISO, BIS, SEFA, NABL, GreenGuard, and lots more. These certificates enable you to recognize our brand and products as the very best quality available in the Indian market. When you buy from Labkafe, you can rest assured that your goods are durable, will give good results and you have gotten your money’s worth.

2. Over 1500 Satisfied Customers

Ever since its inception in 2015, Labkafe has been steadily supplying  lab furniture ,  lab equipment , and  lab consumables . We have come far wading through a mass of customers, over fifteen hundred in number in these short seven years. We have left footprints all over India in every state, even overseas, and we connect to resellers to supply even foreign schools and colleges. And you know what? None of these customers have ever turned their backs on us!

3. Prestigious Customers Everywhere

We do not discriminate among customers ‒ everyone is the same with us. Yet, we are proud to have served a large number of high-profile clientele. We have belted in government schools like APSs, JNVs, KVs, and Sainik Schools. We have worked with prestigious colleges and universities like IITs and NITs. We have supplied scientific celebrity organizations like DRDO and ONGC. And we enjoy the patronage of a lot of well-known private institutes like Techno India and Don Bosco. With a portfolio full of such prestigious accounts, we have little if any competition.

4. Strong Presence on GeM

As you may know, government organizations are compelled to procure lab supplies only from the  Government e-Marketplace . And Labkafe is like a beacon there, a  registered OEM on GeM . Present as Orientallabs Retail Services Pvt Ltd in the GeM portal, we provide the best prices and pass every specification check, winning bid after bid. And you know, you can trust who GeM trusts.

5. Fully Customized Lab Design ‒ For Free

Labkafe is famous for our custom lab solutions! Unlike other suppliers, we do not force you to match with our products ‒ instead, we adapt to your requirements. Our engineers will visit your facility and take note of your existing infrastructure. Then we will bring up a plan in 2D and 3D as fits, to show you how your lab could be. You can then customize it at your heart’s content. And guess what? All of this is free of cost!

6. Free Installation and Demonstration

Don’t you just hate it when they deliver the packages and it just sits there waiting for you to dirty your hands? Unlike other vendors or manufacturers, we do not forget the client after the sale is done. Our engineers and technicians will visit your site, open the packs, reconcile the delivered items to the order copy, and then install the equipment and consumables where needed. You won’t have to lift a single finger!

7. Great Warranty Values

We make it, we sell it, we fix it. Our all-encompassing warranty gives you full protection from any accidental damages and other unforeseen quality issues that may arise. We will respect your every concern and we will try to fix any problems with our products. All our products come with ironclad warranty clauses in agreement with all business laws.

8. Awesome Aftersales Support

We pride ourselves on serving our customers faithfully! Our aftersales support team will listen to your every concern patiently and offer solutions that are dependable and minimum hassle. We remember and serve our customers even years after the warranty period, since we know the value of goodwill. 

9. Full Technical Assistance

Procuring school lab supplies can be a complicated thing, especially if you have to do it through GeM. Don’t worry! Our experts will be with you from start to finish, hand-holding you through every step of the procurement procedure. We will prepare all documentation for you, provide remote assistance through Anydesk, and make the whole process smooth and silky for you ‒ on or off GeM.

10. Doorstep Delivery at Any Pincode

That’s right, we deliver anywhere! No longer will you have to suffer handling half of the logistics yourself ‒ we will do it no matter wherever you are in India. We have served schools and institutes in the remotest locations, working through the worst kind of situations. We have delivered perfectly intact lab solutions to customers through landslides, political turmoil, storms, and droughts, day or night, at borders and on icy roads. You cannot depend upon the weather forecast ‒ but you can depend on our delivery truck.

To Pack It Up

All those proud services and excellence, and yet we managed to keep our prices down. This is possible because our vision, which is to see every child have access to affordable laboratory education, is priceless! Our NIT-alumni-founded company is doing more than just business ‒ it is changing the very backbone of educational infrastructure in India. 

We wish to become the face of practical education in the country, to become a story, a name to swear by. Come, join the movement! Add your school or institution to the list of future-proof labs. Be a part of tomorrow!

The post 10 Reasons to choose Labkafe for School Lab Supply appeared first on Labkafe Blog.