Independent Activities Period (IAP) at the Edgerton Center is a time of renewed focus on creativity and community, and the 2026 session was no exception. Throughout January, Strobe Alley was home to dozens of hands-on, student-led activities which invited the MIT community to express, create, and connect.

This period is an opportunity for workshop leaders to share a special interest or talent, building confidence, leadership, and experience while also welcoming others into their craft. Hannah Gazdus repeated her popular handmade watercolor paint workshop, in which participants create their own take-home set of custom paint to the sounds of calming lo-fi music. In a noisier session, Instructor Justin Schmidt led a group in making Atari Punk Consoles (take a listen on Instagram). Other workshops ranged from dressmaking, to wire jewelry, to fused glass, to crochet turtles - and many more.

In an IAP first, the Edgerton Center and MIT MAD collaborated to present a demonstration of Doc Edgerton’s classic experiment measuring the speed of light down the Infinite Corridor. Host Lee Zamir set the scene with a talk about attempts to measure light’s speed throughout history, and then recreated the experiment using some of Doc’s original equipment from the 1950s.

Key to this year’s efforts were First Year students Alvan Liu and Janet Weng, who applied their organizational talents to support the Edgerton Center’s strong IAP tradition. With guidance from Diane Brancazio and Justin Schmidt of the K-12 Maker Lab, the duo managed workshop materials, scheduling, and personnel throughout the term. A testament to their energy and enthusiasm, each of them also ran several workshops including rug tufting, Chinese New Year charms, and custom mug making.

While the guided activities of IAP may be over for this year, the 4-409 Student Project Lab is accessible to the MIT community year-round. Find information about access, scheduling, and what’s in the shop on this page.