Faculty Profile: Henrique Monnerat, Technical Arts Teacher

Drawing on his background as an industrial designer, Henrique Monnerat transforms Santa Catalina Lower and Middle School’s makerspace into a truly synapsefiring idea lab. “Designers are trained to be relentless in their pursuit of generating ideas,” says the Technical Arts teacher, who started at Catalina in the 2021-22 school year. “We’re trained to not be satisfied with the first idea. That allows creativity to flow. This is something that young kids are really good at.”

Henrique was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His father, who worked for IBM, lived in the United States for a few years, and Henrique joined him for his seventh-grade year. He recalls being fascinated with a workshop class where they built Lego robots and wooden cars. (Coincidentally, he would later establish a makerspace at a school in the same town, Greenwich Country Day School in Connecticut.)

Henrique studied design at a university in Brazil before earning the equivalent of a master’s degree in Germany, where he also studied biomimicry in a post-graduate program. He then found a job in Holland designing a wide range of industrial products, from power tools to food packaging to electronic devices. After spending about eight years in Europe, he returned to Brazil and began teaching at a university and working as a design consultant. At the same time, he volunteered with a friend who brought fabrication machines, such as 3D printers, to public schools; Henrique designed lessons and taught the young students how to use the machines. “I discovered that I’m having much more fun teaching kids design technology than I was designing new products for my clients,” he says.

There are many concepts from the design world that Henrique brings to his classes, and one of the overarching ideas is that of meaning. He explains, “When engineers think about whether a table is sturdy enough or easy to fabricate, designers are busy thinking, ‘What kind of table do people want? How will it feel to use it? What functions should this table have?’ Learning about people’s needs is something we are trained to do. Now, in a makerspace, you want kids to do more than just learn how to build things—you want them to build meaningful things. Before they build, they are challenged to reflect about who it is for, what people need, and then practice skills of learning how to find that information.”

Designers are also creators, and Henrique helps students through the process of bringing ideas to life: sketching on paper, building prototypes, and learning to refine, refine, refine. “Kids have high expectations for their ideas and dreams, and we would be doing them a disservice if we did not teach them how they can put them into the world, and those skills are practiced and nurtured in our makerspace,” he says.

The makerspace is a highly collaborative place, and Henrique tries to work closely with teachers so his projects can enhance students’ learning in other subjects, such as having students design a game around a topic they’re studying in history. Sometimes the conversations are organic, and sometimes they come from a teacher looking for hands-on opportunities for their students. For example, he worked with math teacher Jessica Bangham on an affordable housing project for sixth-graders who were learning about scale and area. “The school is hoping that teachers find in this space the support to experiment and try new curriculum ideas, which will ultimately benefit learning,” he says.

Favorite design

The neptuno submarine, which I designed for my master’s thesis. It moves like a fish.

Languages spoken

Portuguese, English, and German

Cycling enthusiast

I’ve crossed the Alps and the Pyrenees on biking trips with my friends. Our first trip across the Alps between France and Italy was eight days, and we didn’t take tents.

Finding his calling

When I was six or seven years old, I got in trouble for taking apart the telephone. But I think my dad realized I wanted to learn more about technology.

Anything with wheels

I still like to race remote control cars. I’ve also built my own skateboards.

Look sharp, feel sharp

I like bow ties. They’re friendly. Plus, I think I’m pretty formal, so they help me break down that formality.