Wallach, the school’s hub of innovative design, applied engineering, and creative arts, was recently featured as the cover story.
Gates Invention & Innovation Program
Boys who are doing are boys who are learning, and there is no better example of that idea at Cardigan than the Gates Invention & Innovation Program and Competition.
Gates is a year-long class that teaches creative thinking, risk-taking, and entrepreneurial spirit while developing an appreciation for hard work and accomplishment. Beginning each fall, each student or student team is charged with designing and building a prototype of an invention that performs a practical function, makes life easier or safer, entertains, or solves an everyday problem.
Video Highlights: 2023 Gates Competition
Cross-curricular connections are critical to true experiential learning. It is in these moments of academic cross-pollination that a student’s world expands.
ERIC ESCALANTE P’20,’22, FORMER DIRECTOR OF GATES
The Gates Program in the News
A record 51 student inventions were showcased in this year’s Gates Invention and Innovation Competition!
It’s just before 9:00 a.m. on the Friday of Spring Family Weekend. The sixth and seventh graders in the Gates Program have been working toward this moment for five months––researching their ideas, developing prototypes, and refining their marketing plans.
It’s often the case that as a young person grows up, their passions and interests change as they learn new skills, develop relationships with different people, and encounter different life experiences. That has not been the case with Ben Ely ’21; he’s been an inventor as long as he can remember.
After weeks of research and design, students race their cars across the floor of the Gates Lab in Wallach.
The boys have spent five months growing their inventions from vague ideas into prototypes.
Students in the sixth and seventh grades are readying their prototypes for the annual event.
Interested to learn more about Cardigan for your son? The first step is to click the button below.
The Charles C. Gates Invention & Innovation Competition is an academic and afternoon program offering at Cardigan made possible by the Gates Frontiers Fund.