Tom Okite's trip to India
Tom Okite of ARO Fablab Kenya West together with other fab-labbers around the world attended
FAB5: (The Fifth International Fab Lab Forum and Symposium on Digital Fabrication in Pune, India for a period of one week, August 16-21, 2009.
The event gathered both field practitioners and laboratory researchers. The event was mainly for workshops and symposium on the principles and applications on digital fabrication. It was organized by a team including the College of Engineering, Pune, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, Symbiosis Institute of Technology, Vigyan Ashram, the National Innovation Foundation, the Fab Foundation, the MIT-India Program, and MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA), with support from DSIR and NSF. FAB5 follows earlier events in the US, South Africa, and Norway; there's background on fab labs and digital fabrication here.
Fab5 participants in India looking at a project by Fabfi
Just as communications and computation have made the transition from analog to digital, laboratory research is leading to the development of fundamentally digital fabrication processes in which programs don't just describe things, they are things. Like those earlier digital revolutions, the digitization of fabrication enables its personalization, allowing anyone to make (almost) anything, anywhere.
Fab labs began as an outreach project from CBA, to provide access to prototype tools for personal fabrication. They've since grown into a global network, with the number of Fab labs doubling roughly every 1.5 years (here is the current lab list). |
To keep up with this growth, a non-profit Fab Foundation, for-profit Fab Fund, and educational Fab Academy are being established.
Bio gas plant ( A Fablab project in India)
The FAB5 workshops brought together fab-labbers from North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia for tutorials, hands-on projects, program discussions, and research planning in areas including field fabrication and application of analytical instrumentation for healthcare and the environment, communications infrastructure, energy, housing, and rapid-prototyping of rapid-prototyping machines.
Tom making a chair from acrylic material
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These workshops were limited by available space to 100 participants, admitted by application to fab5@fabfoundation.org. The daily cost of accommodations, meals, and materials was $100, with support available to assist unfunded participants. ARO FabLab Kenya west was one of the beneficiaries from the funding as Tom Okite was sponsored both air ticket and accommodation to attend the conference.
The symposium done during the workshop surveyed the science behind digital fabrication, and explored its social, economic, and educational implications. It featured presentations from academic, government, and industry leaders, as well as grass-roots inventors and organizations. This accommodated 1000 attendees.
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The following labs were represented;
India
Pune
Pabal
Delhi
Ghana
Sekondi-Takoradi
South Africa
Pretoria
Bloemfontein
Cape Town
Kimberley
Potchefstroom
Soshanguve
Kenya
Kisumu
Nairobi
Spain
Barcelona
Bermeo: Denokinn InnovaLab
Netherlands
Amsterdam
Utrecht
Norway
Lyngen
Iceland
Vestmannaeyjar (video)
USA
Boston (Massachusetts)
Providence images (Rhode Island)
Midwest Fab Lab Network
Lorain County (Ohio)
Fox Valley (Wisconsin)
White Bear Lake (Minnesota)
San Diego (California)
Japan
Keio
Afghanistan
Jalalabad
The following were the items under discussion and participation:
Lab Opening
Fab Labs: Past, Present, Future
Scheduling and Logistics
Fab Lab Review
Hands-on Tutorials: CAD, CAM
Hands-on Projects: Screen printing graphics
Programs and Operations: Education
Research: Materials and machines
Hands-on Tutorials: Computer-controlled cutting (COEP)
Hands-on Projects: Rapid-prototyping of rapid-prototyping machines (COEP)
Programs and Operations: Lab management (COEP)
Research: Agriculture, healthcare, energy, environment (Vigyan Ashram)
Hands-on Tutorials: PCB fabrication and assembly (COEP)
Hands-on Projects: Flexible and fabric circuits (COEP)
Programs and Operations: Outreach (COEP)
Research: Communications: FabFi (Vigyan Ashram)
Hands-on Tutorials: Embedded computing (COEP)
Hands-on Projects: Construction - furniture, vehicles, houses (COEP)
Programs and Operations: Business (Vigyan Ashram)
Research: Computation: thin servers, thinner clients (COEP)
Hands-on Tutorials: 3D molding and casting (COEP)
Hands-on Projects: Programming - embedded logic kits and environments (COEP)
Programs and Operations: Sustainability (Vigyan Ashram)
Research: CAD, CAM, machine control, project management (COEP)
Fab Foo (COEP) Groupings discussions on different interests.
Other presentations covered the following areas;
Anil Gupta: Grass-Roots Inventors and Inventions videos
Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, National Innovation Foundation
Kshetrimayum Nicholson Singh
Chintakindi Mallesham
Abdul Kaleem
Sagir Khan
Prem Singh Saini
Kanak Gogoi
Uddhab Kumar Bharali
Bharat Kamble
A.S. Rao: Fab Lab for Crazy Idea Fund
DSIR
Yogesh Kulkarni: Kalbag's Legacy
Vigyan Ashram
Fab Ecosystem (COEP)
Fab Foundation
Fab Fund
Fab Academy
Fab Charter |
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