Challenger Center and New Matter Announce Partnership

Challenger Learning Centers to Implement New Matter MOD-t 3D Printers

WASHINGTON and PASADENA, Calif. – June 15, 2017 – Challenger Center, a leading science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education organization, and New Matter, a leading desktop 3D printing company, today announced a new partnership that will include selecting and equipping Challenger Learning Centers with New Matter’s award-winning MOD-t 3D printers. Over the next several months, Challenger Center and New Matter will announce the initial group of three Centers selected to receive the donated printers, with the first being unveiled in late June. The selected Centers will receive five MOD-t 3D printers.

“New Matter is a natural partner for Challenger Center and we’re excited to begin our work together,” said Lance Bush, president and chief executive officer, Challenger Center. “We share a commitment to providing innovative, hands-on experiences that spark a passion for learning in students. The MOD-t was developed and designed for teachers and students and we’re eager to see our Challenger Learning Center educators implement these remarkably easy-to-use and elegant printers into programs with their local students.”

As part of the competition to be selected to receive the printers, Challenger Center’s network of 43 Challenger Learning Centers submitted proposals describing how they would use the printers in newly created makerspaces, design new programs, and implement the printers into current education activities. From developing 3D printing summer camps to incorporating the printers into simulated space missions like Expedition Mars, the proposals demonstrated a broad range of creative, forward-thinking approaches for Challenger Center educators to use 3D printing technology to engage students and teachers alike.

“At New Matter, our mission is to use 3D printing to bridge the digital and physical worlds, and we’re thrilled to begin our partnership with Challenger Center,” said Steve Schell, chief executive officer and cofounder, New Matter. “Educational environments are the ideal settings for the MOD-t and we’re pleased that tens of thousands of students and their teachers will soon be able to experience the printers in Centers across the country. Given the increasing national desire to go deeper into space – to Mars and beyond – and the widely accepted understanding that 3D printing will be key to that exploration, we’re also especially proud that New Matter will play a role in those missions by helping to shape the young minds that will eventually lead them.”

Widely recognized for both the high quality of its prints and the elegant simplicity of its design, the MOD-t was created with educators in mind. One of the quietest desktop 3D printers available, the MOD-t can be easily integrated into a Challenger Learning Center experience without causing disruption to the entire mission or another program taking place.

For more information about Challenger Center, please visit challenger.org. For more information about New Matter, please visit www.newmatter.com.

About Challenger Center
As a leader in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, Challenger Center and its network of Challenger Learning Centers provide more than 250,000 students annually with experiential education programs to engage students in hands-on learning opportunities. These programs strengthen knowledge in STEM subjects and inspire students to pursue careers in these important fields. Challenger Center was created to honor the crew of shuttle flight STS-51-L. Learn more at challenger.org. Connect on Facebook @ChallengerCtr and Twitter @ChallengerCtr.

About New Matter
New Matter makes the benefits of 3D printing accessible and affordable to every classroom and home by providing the best, most seamless user experience of any desktop 3D printer. The award-winning New Matter MOD-t is the most elegantly simple printer for both educational institutions and consumers, delivering the highest quality and reliability in the industry. The company is backed by leading venture capital firms and is an operating company of leading technology incubator Idealab.

To learn more about New Matter, please visit www.newmatter.com or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

New Matter and MOD-t are registered trademarks of New Matter, Inc. in the United States.

For Challenger Center:
Lisa Vernal
202.827.1573
lvernal@challenger.org

For New Matter:
Ronjini Joshua
562.241.1668
ronjini@thesilvertelegram.com