Hi-tech workshop will be training base for Highland pupils
WICK High School is set to become the first secondary school in the Highlands to become home to a digital workshop aimed at inspiring students and budding entrepreneurs into careers in emerging industries.
MAKLab North has received £40,000 funding from the SSE Highland Sustainable Development Fund to establish an open-access community digital fabrication studio at the school.
It will offer a range of innovative techniques from 3D printing and milling to digital knitting and jewellery making.
MAKLab North is intended to serve as a training base to help pupils throughout the Highlands interested in pursuing a career in the engineering, energy and emerging creative industries.
The project will involve establishing a fixed workshop at Wick High, which has been identified as an ideal school through its growing reputation for promoting digital excellence. Pupils will get the opportunity to design and construct hi-spec components using 3D printing technology.

The aim is to produce a group of skilled and motivated young people for employment in engineering, renewable energy and the creative sector.
Chris Aitken, head of computing science at Wick High, said it is an honour for the school to be chosen as the north base for MAKLab, saying it will prove a vital tool to help boost the far north economy.
“By having school and community access to cutting-edge digital fabrication technologies, we are fostering and inspiring a new generation of makers and engineers,” he said.
“This will feed directly into the plan from the Caithness and North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership to produce an outward-looking and highly skilled workforce in the north Highlands.”
There will also be a van which will visit other schools to widen the access to training and hands-on experience of different digital fabrication technologies to all age ranges.
Founding director at MAKLab, Bruce Newlands, is delighted SSE has agreed to finance 90 per cent of the project which will cost around £45,000.
“MAKLab North will build on the strong engineering history of the Highlands and in particular allow communities to explore, create and develop a range of ideas from energy monitors to small- scale renewables,” he said.
“It also benefits from the support of a range of local partners which will ensure it is firmly embedded not just in the curriculum for young engineers, but also within the wider community, including start-up small and medium-sized enterprises and existing businesses wishing to innovate.
“We expect this project to have a wide and lasting impact on the aspirations of young people in the Highlands, bringing cutting-edge technology, people and communities together in a way that empowers.”
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Other far north projects to receive grants from the development fund, included Caithness Sports Facilities Limited, which received £5000 to go towards architect, planning permission and legal fees for the development of Thurso Harbour Centre.
Strathy village hall committee received a grant of £4900 towards a sustainability audit and feasibility work for a major overhaul of the hall’s energy efficiency.