Meet the Creator
Meet the Creator
Dr. Joe Licavoli
Joe is the creative force behind the Stories & Semiconductors program, leading story design, curriculum creation, and overall program structure.
With a career spanning industry, academia, and government research, Joe brings both expertise and creativity. He’s a former DOE researcher, a research scientist at Michigan Technological University, and a science educator. His background includes work in the automotive and aerospace industries, along with experience as a process engineer. Joe has also applied his storytelling skills to writing scripts for podcasts and YouTube, making him the perfect person for blending science and storytelling, making these complex scientific ideas understandable and accessible to the students this program is serving.
Supported by
Copper Country ISD
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), in partnership with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s MiSTEM Network, has awarded a $201,000 grant to Copper Country ISD, which will be partially used to fund the "Stories and Semiconductors" program. Launching in the fall of 2025 in 4th-grade classrooms across the Western Upper Peninsula, the program hopes to introduce awareness and skill development to students as potential career options in Michigan’s growing advanced manufacturing industry.
CCISD leaders, Emily Geiger and Steve Kass, alongside Dr. Joe Licavoli came up with the original vision of Stories and Semiconductors together as a methodology to teach students about semiconductors at a young age.
The Copper Country ISD serves the needs of all learners to become socially and academically successful citizens through leadership, collaboration, and quality support services. CCISD serves 15 school districts, supports over 6,500 students and 1,100 education staff, and covers a vast area of 2,448 square miles.
Learn more about their work here.
Core programming funded by
Michigan Economic Development Coportation and the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Opportunity
As the primary funder, the MEDC supports business development, job awareness, and community growth to strengthen Michigan’s economy. The grant promotes collaboration between key partners, including the Copper Country Intermediate School District, Calumet Electronics, REMC, WUP MiSTEM, U.P. MiWorks!, InvestUP, the Michigan Dept. of Education, and Burton EMS. The program will also consult Gogebic Community College and Michigan Technological University experts. Western UP MiSTEM Director Dr. Emily Geiger will oversee the program and act as the connection between classrooms and industry leaders for better educational outcomes.
MEDC Director of Strategic Talent Initiatives
“It’s a win for Western UP students and their teachers to gain real-world education applications and hands-on workforce training at an early, impressionable age.”
MEDC Director of Strategic Talent Initiatives