We work to prepare students for the careers of the future in engineering, skilled trades, and business management . Keep STIIX in mind for your
next career exploration initiative 😊
STIIX projects are designed specifically to support early exploration without adding instructional burden. Each project is hands-on, open-ended, and built around real-world systems students recognize, such as water systems, energy, structures, and simple mechanical devices. We move students through a scaffolded journey from Career Awareness to Career Preparation. By utilizing the hands on project based learning, we ensure that every project reinforces both technical STEM content and long-term career identities.
- Career Awareness (K-5): Introducing the "who" and "why" behind community workers and innovators.
- Career Exploration (6-8): Aligning student interests with professional engineering pathways.
- Career Preparation (9-12): Developing the technical fluency and design-thinking mindset for high-demand trades and industries.
STIIX serves as a practical, "zero-prep" engine for delivering hands-on engineering instruction within the National Career Clusters® Framework. By providing turnkey kits and instructional videos that remove the "heavy lifting" for teachers, STIIX enables schools to seamlessly integrate rigorous engineering practices into daily learning.
A Career Cluster is a grouping of broad industries (e.g., Manufacturing or Health Science) based on shared skills. Within these clusters, Career Pathways represent specific educational routes from high school to post-secondary degrees or professional certifications.
Implementing STEM pathways is more than just a curriculum choice; it is a critical investment in student economic mobility and district accountability.
- Relevance & Engagement: Career-connected learning increases student interest by matching their skills and abilities with real-world adult life roles.
- Future-Proofing: Since new jobs are being invented every 5 to 10 years, pathways focus on "future-ready" skills like AI literacy and systems thinking.
- Early Intervention: Career development is grounded in the formative K-8 years, where students first begin to imagine their adult trajectories.
- Standards Accountability: STIIX reinforces the Engineering Design Process, ensuring that "fun" builds are anchored in rigorous pedagogical standards.
Beyond technical skills, STIIX projects are designed to foster the 10 STEM Career Competencies identified by the Education Development Center (EDC). We don’t just teach them how to build; we teach them:
- Design & Systems Thinking: Navigating the non-linear path from problem to solution.
- Resilience & Iteration: Learning that "failure" is simply the first step of the Engineering Design Process.
- Digital-Physical Literacy: Using the STIIX-Ville AR App to see how physical builds function in a digital world.Collaboration: Simulating the "human-technology frontier" through team-based problem solving.
Our kits are designed to support a variety of career pathways, and we are constantly expanding our offerings. If you don't see a specific pathway listed, please reach out, we are always open to collaborating on the development of new kits and bundles to meet your needs. Instructors and CTE Directors can seamlessly integrate STIIX hands-on labs into their existing curriculum to enhance student learning.
🛠️ STIIX enables students to master the built environment through projects like our Bridge and Architecture kits. Aligned with the STEM and Architecture & Construction clusters, these tools allow learners to apply the Engineering Design Process to solve structural challenges and visualize 3D space.
Our Solar Energy and Wind Turbine kits empower students to explore the Energy cluster by generating power from renewable resources. These "zero-prep" tools turn abstract environmental concepts into tangible experiments in sustainability and utility management.⚡️
Through industry-validated projects like the Hydraulic Lift—highlighted in our work with Sundt Construction—students get a head start in the Construction cluster. STIIX provides the physical materials and instructional videos to simulate high-stakes workflows found on modern job sites.🏙️👷🏼
The Rocket and Glider Plane kits serve as the entry point for the Transportation, Distribution & Logistics cluster. These tools simplify complex aerodynamics, allowing teachers to easily facilitate lessons on propulsion, lift, and the future of flight. 🚀✈️
STIIX supports the Government & Public Administration and Law & Public Safety clusters with infrastructure focused kits like Water Systems. Students learn how municipal systems protect community health, providing a hands-on look at the essential engineering behind public safety.🚦
With our Water Filtration and Water System projects, students dive into the Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources cluster. These kits act as a laboratory for studying resource management and the ecological engineering required to sustain our food systems. ☀️🌱
Our Racecar, Catapult, and Sneaker/Fashion kits allow students to explore the Manufacturing cluster by moving from design to production. STIIX serves as a small scale factory in a box, teaching the iterative nature of product development and industrial engineering.👨🏾🏭
The STIIX Prosthetic Leg kit is a premier tool for the Health Science cluster, specifically in the Biomedical Engineering pathway. It challenges students to design mechanical solutions for human needs, blending biology with innovative medical technology.🦿
Check out the different ways support schools working to develop STEM pathways and future career clusters!
We know you have a large and unique vision. One of our favorite parts about what we do is working directly with partners on custom projects, content, and of course...BRANDED kits based on your goals!
Our kits are specifically engineered to provide the "heavy lifting" for educators across the diverse landscape of the National Career Clusters. We bridge the gap between classroom instruction and real-world application.
Find that your organization is always at community events with the right intentions, but with lackluster materials and products to display? Ditch the pens and lanyards and pass out STEM kits to be the attendees most memorable booth!
Hoping to make volunteerism a part of your company culture, but struggling to find ways to do so? Boost participation with a volunteer event! Engage your team in a "speed-packing" competition that turns hard work into amazing impact. 😉🏆
Because our curriculum is standards-aligned and industry-vetted (as seen in our work with Sundt Construction), STIIX is a qualifying purchase for multiple funding lines:
Supporting Middle School Career Exploration.
Providing equitable, high-quality STEM access for high-need schools.
Delivering consistent, "zero-prep" enrichment for OST programs. We have extensive history servicing CCLC centers in support of their required curriculuar needs, as well as their family engamgent requirements. It's such an important way to go give students learnign experiences they may otherwise never recieve, and it's that much better when their parents get to build and learn side by side.
In Texas, we know that preparing students for future career opportunities requires more than just a textbook, it requires Design-Based Thinking and hands-on application. But for the busy Texas educator, the "heavy lifting" of sourcing materials and planning complex design challenges can be a barrier to high-quality instruction.
STIIX is your partner in Texas STEM success.We provide the physical tools and the instructional "co-pilots" (videos) that allow you to deliver a Full Immersion experience without the burnout. Whether you are a Title I school aiming for equity or a district seeking a STEM Endorsement pipeline, STIIX delivers:
- TEKS-Centered Design: Our projects aren't just "fun activities"; they are rigorous applications of the Engineering Design Process mapped directly to gradelevel TEKS.
-STEM Fluency for the Future Workforce: We focus on the "soft" skills Texas employers demand, resilience, collaboration, and critical thinking,by challenging students to build, test, and improve.
-Vertical Alignment for CTE Pathways: From Energy (Wind Turbines) to Health Science (Prosthetic Legs), our kits introduce students to the high-demand industries that drive the Texas economy.
- Equity Through Ease: By providing everything you need besides the students and a workspace, we ensure every Texas learnerregardless of their campus resources access to elite-level engineering.
