FAB ACADEMY
The Fab Academy teaches principles and applications of digital fabrication. It was developed to teach hands-on skills in fab labs, which began as an outreach project from MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms, and has grown into a global network of more than 500 labs. Fab Academy instruction is based on MIT’s popular rapid-prototyping course How To Make (almost) Anything, both taught by Prof. Neil Gershenfeld.
Fab Academy offers a distributed rather than distance educational model: students learn in local workgroups, with peers, mentors, and machines, which are then connected globally by content sharing and video for interactive classes. The individual labs are supported and supervised regionally by supernode sites with more advanced capabilities, expertise, and inventories.
The Fab Diploma has led to students obtaining employment, investment, admission, and recognition
STUDENTS WILL LEARN
How to use a Fab Lab’s digital fabrication tools for rapid prototyping
Electronics design and production on by producing circuit boards using a variety of sensors and output devices.
How to program AVR microcontrollers on the boards they have produced
Molding and casting
3D scanning and printing
COURSE CONTENT
Digital fabrication principles and practices
Computer-aided design, manufacturing, and modeling
Computer-controlled cutting
Electronics design and production
Computer-controlled machining
Embedded programming
3D molding and casting
Collaborative technical development and Project management
3D scanning and printing
Sensors, actuators, and displays
Interface and application programming
Embedded networking and communications
Machine design
Digital fabrication applications and implications
Inven on, intellectual property, and business models
Digital fabrication project development