Our Vision: Disrupting the status quo

Education has hit an inflection point. Our children need to become the problem solvers, risk takers, and entrepreneurs of the future, but conventional education, rote learning, and high stakes testing are not preparing students to meet those needs. As AI and automation become more commonplace, companies need thinkers who can work with diverse teams and unexpected challenges -- problem-solving by taking calculated risks rather than waiting for directions. 

For that to happen, change has to take place in the classroom. Today.

Our goal at Bit Space is to help educators across the globe engage all students in a way that sparks wonder and joy while embracing the power of iteration. 

Our Story: An evolution. A revolution.

It started in one household. A father who realized his sons needed more real-world learning than the classroom was giving them. With tools, vague plans and a garage space they tinkered, created, failed, and adapted. They unlocked their creativity and solved problems.

This “Aha” moment led to the founding of Chicago’s premier makerspaces. Thousands of children benefiting from learning how to use tools and deciding what to make with them, while discovering the intersection of digital and physical “making.” 

A global movement was born. One that addresses today’s educational challenges with a proven solution: a curated version of Design Thinking and Maker Mindset. Determined to empower both educators and their students with this essential approach to learning, BitSpace is now leading the way in Maker Education with online and in-person Professional Development courses, school-based programs, Makerspace “design and build” services, and through our Chicago-based makerspaces.

Some might call it a revolution. We call it future-proofing the next generation.

Founders

While Director of the Design Communications program in the Architecture School at the Illinois Institute of Technology, BitSpace co-founder and life-long maker, Thomas Kearns, realized a lot of what he taught at the college level could be explained to his kindergarten-age daughter. 

Manoj Mahenthiran, concerned his sons weren’t getting the critical thinking skills they needed at school to succeed in the real world, had reached similar conclusions. 

The two met through their children’s kindergarten class and launched BitSpace’s first youth-only maker lab in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago in 2015.