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22 SMT007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2026 F E AT U R E A RT I C L E BY M I C H I GA N T EC H E L ECT RO N I C S H U B The energy is electric at Michigan Tech- nological University as 164 fourth graders from Michigan's western Upper Peninsula trade their traditional desks for a day of high-tech exploration. The students are here to pilot Stories & Semicon- ductors, a new educational series. By following the adventures of characters who solve problems through electronics, young students don't just read about technology; they build it themselves. Created by entrepreneur and research scientist Joe Licavoli-Wall, Stories & Semiconductors intro- duces young learners to complex concepts, like electrons, atoms, and bonding, and how those af- fect a material's conductivity. They're also learning how semiconductors allow us to make tiny micro- chips, and how those microchips allow computers to talk in code to do useful things. Morse code was integrated into the student exercises to demon- strate how short and long beeps are similar to binary code used in programming. Fourth graders from several local schools—Dollar Bay, Barkell, Calumet, and Copper Island Acad- emy—visited Michigan Tech for an all-day launch of the series last fall. By all accounts, the inaugural event was a huge success. "It's important for kids to have mentors and people to look up to when they are exploring tech- nology," Licavoli-Wall said. Michigan Tech Professor Chris Middlebrook provided lab space, electronics expertise, and re- cruited a small army of ECE students to join the ef- fort. "Stories & Semiconductors paves the way for Young Students Step Into the World of Electronics and Semiconductors MORE THAN A FIELD TRIP