Sparking hands-on learning

By Leah Rachel von Essen 

“I graduated with an A+ in circuits class, but I never built one,” says Angie Mercurio ’17 MS, ’26 MBA, an Evening & Weekend MBA student with two degrees in engineering. In an undergraduate circuits course, she and her classmates struggled to secure time in group labs to practice on a limited number of expensive and cumbersome electronics machines. Mercurio had dreamed of working as a robotics engineer at Disney since she was 6. But she wasn’t keeping up, and she was getting discouraged. 

Then she came across the prototype of nLab — and it changed her life trajectory. 

Sparking confidence 

It turned out that many professors were just as frustrated as Mercurio. They could teach the calculus and theory behind basic electronics-engineering principles, but they couldn’t offer students as much hands-on practice time as they would have liked.  

In 2014, Northwestern engineering professor Nick Marchuk ’10 MS and teaching assistant David Meyer ’12 MS, ’15 PhD created a small kit that allowed students to do experiments on their own time. The machines it replicated (an oscilloscope, function generator and power supply) were large and cost upwards of $1,000. By contrast, the new device, known today as nLab, could fit in your pocket and cost just $200, allowing students to truly experiment, fiddle and learn as much as they wanted. 

“This whole method of teaching is about encouraging people to be more hands-on, try things out and learn from their failures,” says Meyer, today the chief technology officer of nLab and an engineering manager at Apple. From his own career, he knows how important an experimental mindset is. “Those who drive the most innovation are folks who are unafraid of diving straight in,” he says. nLab gave students that courage, allowing them to apply theory through practice and accomplish all kinds of small builds while leveling up to bigger projects. 

Mercurio, by then a master’s student in engineering at NU, first encountered the device during a course and it was a game-changer. At the same time, the nLab team was shipping devices to other universities that heard about it and requested it for their own classrooms. With the confidence she gained through nLab, she built a portfolio of projects impressive enough to land her a job at Disney, first as an electronics engineer and then as a productization coordinator. It was a dream come true. 

But one day a co-worker saw the nLab sitting on Mercurio’s desk and asked her about it.  

“I had a complete revelation: I wouldn’t have this career if it weren’t for nLab,” Mercurio says. “And then I had another epiphany when my co-worker’s next question was, ‘How do I get one?’” Mercurio thought about how many other students must have gotten discouraged by the same lack of hands-on practice that almost derailed her own career ambitions.

She looked up the data and was shocked to discover the extent of today’s global shortage of electrical engineers: 76% of U.S. employers struggle to hire in the field because there aren’t enough students in the pipeline. “The market’s going to explode,” says Mercurio. “It’s going to grow by $300 billion in the next five years because of AI, automation and climate change. And there’s not enough people. Not enough innovators, inventors or builders.” 

Everything suddenly became clear, she says. nLab needed more visibility, and she needed the business fundamentals to help the startup grow. “I quit two weeks after that conversation with my coworker and applied to Kellogg. There was no ambiguity.” She went to Marchuk and Meyer and told them it was time to scale up, and that she wanted to prove to them she could lead the charge — and she has. Today, she’s pursuing her MBA part-time while serving as CEO of nLab, scaling the startup to provide STEM kits available to anyone. She hopes that getting the device into the hands of more curious learners will open the same doors that it carried her through. In May, nLab and Mercurio took home third place, the audience favorite award and $30,000 at Northwestern’s annual student startup competition, VentureCat 2025.  

Engineering is for everyone

While nLab’s team knew that interest from universities would grow organically, they’re seeing more interest among the general public than they anticipated. Nick Marchuk, co-founder of nLab Technologies and a senior lecturer in mechanical engineering at NU, remembers hosting an event on campus for what he thought would be a group of eighth-grade girls — but they turned out to be 8-year-olds. But with nLabs to work with and guidance from the TAs, the participants still completed the project he had planned: each participant building her own small 5-by-5-inch piano. It was an impressive feat, given that the task typically appears on midterm tests for college sophomores. That experience helped him realize how much general interest there might be for such an interactive learning opportunity.  

“Kids build with Legos and they figure it out. They just intuitively build,” says Marchuk. In a similar way, students and kids alike can use nLab to truly experiment. It’s revolutionary for many people, he says. “For somebody who’s used our devices, there’s no fear. There’s no such thing as failure. It’s all learning.” 

And it’s fun. Last summer, interns helped nLab leaders brainstorm about the kinds of things they could build. The answer was just about anything: A heartbeat monitor. A game. A climate monitor. A microphone. A robotics club member recently told Mercurio, “You somehow made electrical engineering exciting.”  

“There’s a learning revolution right now,” says Mercurio. “People are moving toward anything that allows them to gather a beautiful bouquet of skills. We want to be part of that revolution.” That includes opening up the field to more people, particularly those who are usually left behind. Thanks to the Gates Foundation, the startup was able to give nLab kits to students in Lagos, Nigeria.  

The pocket-size electronics lab also has a new YouTube channel of tutorials, prompts and lessons. The effort is led by Mercurio and Marchuk, who are now married after having met at NU. The videos, shot in their spare room, are fun, bright and designed to draw in learners and show them the possibilities of what they can create with their own two hands. One father recently commented on YouTube, “Thank you for showing my little girl that electrical engineering is for everyone.” 

This summer, nLab is part of Jumpstart, a 10-week pre-accelerator at The Garage at Northwestern that provides mentorship and programming. And Mercurio was recently named a Zell Fellow, allowing her to draw on a network of influential entrepreneurs for mentorship and resources. The fellowship will help the startup further refine its approach to serving its audience and home in on the product’s consumer-facing potential beyond university purchasers. 

nLab is currently in early conversations with organizations like For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the Museum of Science and Industry — partners that share its commitment to hands-on, curiosity-driven learning. The team is also inspired by creative ecosystems like Hackaday and LEGO Education, as well as reskilling platforms such as Coursera and General Assembly that are expanding access to technical education for adult learners. nLab aims to build tools that empower learning at every stage — from the first spark to lifelong exploration. 

“We believe anyone, anywhere can become an engineer,” Mercurio says. “They just need the right resources and tools.”

Those interested in learning more or supporting the company’s growth are encouraged to reach out via email, check out their website getnlab.com or subscribe to nLab’s new YouTube channel youtube.com/@get-nlab to follow along.