Thomas Pupo '13

Biography

Thomas "Tom" Pupo is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Moonlighter FabLab, a 501(c)3 Non-Profit STEAM Learning Center and Community Fabrication Lab. Under his leadership over the past 9 years, Moonlighter has provided an open and accessible space for developing and testing new projects that bridge academic inquiry and economic opportunity.

To date, the organization has served over 15,000 youth, provided over $250,000 in scholarships, supported over 350 members, and built over 15+ large scale social impact projects including a Magna-Tiles Interactive Permanent Exhibition at The Museum of Discovery and Science, Gather — a Community Play Space at Brickell City Center, Living Benches for Downtown Miami, and many more. His placemaking work through Moonlighter FabLab has transformed public spaces in Miami with parklettes, pop-up parks, micro mobility infrastructure, and other public installations, while serving as an educational model for emerging makers and innovators. These experiences provide youth with real-world projects where they learn fundamental design and technical/STEM skills. This work earned Pupo an Urban Warrior award from the Miami Center for Architecture and Design and AIAMiami.

Other notable STEM educational partnerships include programs and projects with Maker Ed, The Fab Foundation, Fairchild Garden and NASA, Make Magazine, The Nation of Makers, and more. Alumni of Moonlighter programs have pursued careers in design, urbanism, and tech.

Pupo has served as an adjunct professor at the FIU Honors College, FIU CARTA, and at The Idea Center at MDC. He graduated from The Honors College at FIU and earned his Masters in Architecture, where his research focused on the social, economic and cultural impacts of the convergence of design, technology, digital fabrication, and social impact.