About Us

Our story so far!

Buildup STEAM began in 2017 when brothers John and Tom McInerney began to dream big. John, with a passion for building and creating was inspired to empower others to take a step out of the stress and chaos of the world through play. After 7 years of teaching kids at various Engineering, Robotics and STEAM workshops, John made it his mission to bring that same joy of creating to the ones who need it the most. John started volunteering at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, bringing in clean Legos for the kids to play with at their in hospital events. Shortly after, in collaboration with Child Life, they held a Lego party which provided an opportunity for patients and families to get out of their rooms, socialize, and play together.

For the first time, the hospital had an inpatient event with over 100 people. Due to the success of this event, John began to collaborate with the Patient Technology Program and Infection Prevention Team to create the Buildup STEAM bedside robotics program. Allowing patients who were not well enough to make it to big events have opportunities to create and play. After the first full year at Mott, John worked with 2,485+ kids at the bedside. While continuing to work with the patients and families at Mott, John is working to expand the program to other hospitals to empower as many kids as possible to create and build.

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CHILDREN HELPED USING THE BUILDUP STEAM BEDSIDE ROBOTICS PROGRAM