Threading the Future: Infusing Art and Technology to Inspire Inclusive Innovation

In this session, explore how a course in Technology and Textiles merges hands-on creativity with future-ready tech skills to engage a diverse group of learners—especially those traditionally underrepresented in STEM. Designed through a project-based lens, the course invites students to explore smart wearables, 3D printing, sustainability, and digital design, culminating in marketable, expressive products that blend engineering with aesthetic innovation. We’ll unpack how this interdisciplinary approach fosters not only technical competencies, but also identity, agency, and creative confidence—key levers in closing gender and opportunity gaps in tech education. You'll see how drawing, sewing, coding, and AI become equally valid tools for innovation and expression in a studio-classroom model rooted in design thinking and equity. Attendees will walk away with classroom strategies, student project examples, and tools for embedding art, fashion, sustainability, and tech into an inclusive maker curriculum. Whether you're a tech educator looking to humanize your course, or an art teacher seeking deeper STEM integration, this session offers actionable ideas for engaging all learners at the intersection of design, identity, and the digital future.