Category Archives: Fab Labs
Fab Lab of the Week: Fab Lab Adelaide in South Australia
This week’s featured Fab Lab is Fab Lab Adelaide in South Australia.
Fab Lab Adelaide is managed by ANAT (Australian Network for Art and Technology). ANAT supports artists and creative practitioners engaging with science and technology.
Fab Lab Adelaide is funded by the South Australian Government’s Department of Further Education, Employment, Science & Technology.
Equipped with both MakerBot and UP! 3D printers, the Fab Lab will launch in October 2012. In the meantime, follow them on Twitter @FabLabAdl.
We are looking forward to seeing more.
Read about all of our featured Fab Labs in our weekly series.
South Australia photo by S.H. Photography used under Creative Commons license.
Fab Lab of the Week: Maker Kids Lab in Toronto
This week’s featured Fab Lab is Maker Kids Lab in Toronto. Maker Kids is a non-profit center that gives kids the space and tools to design and build their own creative projects. From 3D printing to robots, the lab has everything you would expect from a makerspace, just with smaller chairs.
In recent years, the Maker movement has grown exponentially through print publications, web sites, events and community spaces. Collective community workshops known as Hackerspaces or Makerspaces have grown worldwide from 124 in 2009 to over 500 in 2011. We are at the leading edge, providing one of the first kids’ Makerspaces, empowering all kids to be Makers.
We started in 2010 with a summer program and school events. In 2011 we obtained a permanent space and renovated it extensively. Our Makerspace has areas and tools for woodworking, electronics, mechanical creations, 3D printing, programming, art, sewing, and all kinds of other crafting and making. It is a centre for ideas, inspiration and implementation – a resource centre for our community.
Our program relies on a strong volunteer base and mentorship by kids themselves. Our adult collaborators are facilitators for the kids, and also encourage them to seek out resources to learn on their own, and to teach each other. Teenage collaborators help the younger kids as a part of their high school volunteer hours, as well as work on their own projects.
Interwoven with everything we do is our philosophy to honour kids’ own creativity and trust their abilities. Kids who are confident in their own abilities are capable of learning and doing anything!
Photo credit to Ponoko, who visited Maker Kids this past week and posted some photos from their trip.
Setting Up and Running a Fab Lab: Primer, History, and Recommendations
Everything you wanted to know about setting up a Fab Lab is detailed in this document by Fabien Eychenne.
This broad overview covers these topics from a global perspective:
- History of Fab Labs
- Physical space configuration
- Services and pricing
- Fab Lab teams
- Prototypes
- Group projects
- Art projects
- Structure and organization
- Investment budget
- Machines and equipment
Fab Lab of the Week: Fab Lab Dublin Brings Ideas to Life in Ireland
This week’s featured Fab Lab is Fab Lab Dublin in Ireland, your own personal factory in the city with all the equipment and expertise to make it easier, faster, cheaper and more fun to create things. 3D printing is one of the key technologies at Fab Lab Dublin.
From their website:
We are a collective of designers, entrepreneurs and makers who are setting up Fab Lab Dublin. A Fab Lab is a digital fabrication lab equipped with computer-controlled machines like 3d printers, laser cutters, 3d scanners and precision milling machines. The lab acts as a personal factory in the city where you can design and produce your own inventions, prototypes and designer products.
Design and manufacture is fundamentally changing. Designs (physibles) can be shared digitally and collaborated on at a global scale. Manufacturing is being reinvented by the ability to ship digital data more efficiently than products. Digital information is now at the forefront of manufacture and design. A fab lab is equipped with computer-controlled tools that take digital data to create physical products. The lab includes technology-enabled products generally perceived as limited to mass production – meaning individuals can now compete with large-scale manufacture.
We want to empower individual designers, entrepreneurs and makers with access to the tools of invention. Fab Lab Dublin is a space where you can share your passions, designs and ideas. It is a space where collaboration and invention take place. Life is about the people you meet and the things you create with them. So come join us and share your passion.
Dublin recently hosted a mini Maker Faire. Here is a video showcasing some of the ideas at the faire.
Learn more about Fab Lab Dublin at their website, or follow them on Twitter @FabLabDublin.
See all of our featured Fab Labs in our weekly series.
Dublin at night photo by infomatique used under Creative Commons license.
Fab Lab of the Week: 2nd Fab Lab Opens in the UK, Fab Lab Airedale
This week’s featured Fab Lab is called Fab Lab Airedale. Located in Dalton Mills, Keighley, it is the UK’s second Fab Lab. The first Fab Lab in the UK was opened in Manchester in 2010.
About Fab Lab Airedale:
Fab Lab is the first stage of an ambitious project to create a Centre of Manufacturing Excellence within Airedale serving Bradford District and the surrounding parts of the Leeds City Region. Fab Lab Airedale is a collaborative venture between the Airedale Partnership, Bradford Council and Leeds City College, with support from The Manufacturing Institute. The Fab Lab Airedale will operate as a not for profit company limited by guarantee. Any profits generated through the running of the Fab Lab will be reinvested in the aims of the project which are to promote innovation and excellence within the local manufacturing and related sectors.
Dalton Mills offers the perfect mix of old and new, blending the opulence of Victorian splendour with modern facilities ideal for today’s fast-paced working environment.
Dalton Mills is a former textile mill, located by the side of the River Worth, on Dalton Lane in Keighley, near Bradford. The majestic mill, which has been a landmark of the town for more than 140 years, was acquired by Magna Holdings Ltd in 2004.
It is now having a multi-million pound make-over to restore it to it’s former glory, and with massive regeneration taking place in Airedale over the next decade, there has never been a better time to relocate to Keighley.
Learn more about Fab Lab Airedale at their website, or follow them on Twitter @FabLabAiredale.
See all of our featured Fab Labs in our weekly series.
