Fab Academy

The Fab Academy

The Fab Academy provides instruction and supervises investigation of mechanisms,
applications, and implications of digital fabrication.
Just as communications and computation went from analog to digital, resulting in PCs and the Internet, the digitization of fabrication is leading to personal fabricators that will allow anyone to make almost anything, anywhere. The development of digital fabrication is based on creating codes that don't just describe things, they are things, much as proteins are coded in molecular biology. This research roadmap is ultimately aiming at a Star Trek-style replicator, but prototype versions of these capabilities are already available in field "fab labs".

Fab labs began as an outreach project from MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA), and spread around the world. The Fab Academy was launched to provide access to advanced instruction for students in these labs exceeding the educational resources locally available to them. It links groups of students and instructors in fab labs, with online video collaboration and lectures by a global faculty. Unlike remote instruction from a central campus, the digital fabrication tools in a fab lab effectively allow the campus to come to the student, for distributed rather than distance education.
The Fab Academy offers Certificates on relevant technical topics, and a Diploma aimed at vocational and technical training for employment and investment (along with assistance to its graduates in those areas).These are accredited by the Fab Academy; it is anticipated that they will by followed by a Bachelor's degree to be offered under applicable regional accreditation, along with post-graduate study.

Fab Academy Certificates provide familiarity with technical options and capabilities, hands-on experience, and direction for further study. Each requires, and is evaluated by, developing and documenting projects. They are periodically renewed to reflect best practices. The Certificates typically require 1-2 weeks. They are combined in the Diploma, which is roughly comparable to completing MIT's rapid-prototyping course "How To Make (almost) Anything". It requires about 1 year, with progress evaluated by skills and projects rather than time or credits.

Following an initial trial in 2008, the Fab Academy will accept the first Diploma students in the Fall of 2009. Admission is limited by available space, and based on balancing the students' backgrounds, interests, and experience, as well as project portfolios. Fab Academy tuition is priced to cover the local costs of instruction, facilities, and materials, as well as global capacity. Where possible, support is sought for needs-based tuition assistance. The Fab Academy application is available here.

The Fab Academy is directed by Neil Gershenfeld, and "produced" by Vicente Guallart. They are joined on the Fab Academy faculty by colleagues including:

The Fab Academy faculty are leaders in their respective fields; they
provide global video lectures, supervise academic content, and guide
research.

Hands-on instruction in the labs is provided by instructors who
supervise and evaluate Certificates, develop and disseminate
instructional material, and assist with projects. Launch fab labs and
associated instructors are:

Certificate topics are introduced in a two-week cycle:

with the global lectures happening at 14:00 GMT (ranging from
6:00 on the US West Coast to 23:00 in Japan).

The planned schedule for the Fab Academy Certificate topics that comprise the Diploma curriculum is:

• digital fabrication principles and practices (September 16)
  • digital vs analog
    • threshold theorems
    • universality
    • communications
    • computation
    • fabrication
  • survey
    • tools
    • processes
    • research
  • network
    • Fab Foundation, Fund, Academy
    • Fab Charter
  • safety
    • mechanical
    • optical
    • electrical
    • chemical
• computer-aided design, manufacturing, and modeling (September 30)
  • hierarchical, parametric, procedural, algorithmic design
  • boundary, function representations
  • rendering and animation
  • toolpath generation
  • file formats
  • physical modeling
• computer-controlled cutting (October 14)
  • types
    • waterjet, EDM, ...
  • knife
    • tools
    • materials
    • speed, force
  • laser
    • types
    • materials
    • speed, power, rate
    • maintenance
    • safety
• electronics design and production (October 28)
  • electricity and electronics
  • component types and selection
  • schematic design
  • PCB design
  • PCB fabrication
  • PCB assembly
  • test equipment
• computer-controlled machining (November 11)
  • types
  • tooling
  • materials
  • speeds, feeds
  • fixturing
• embedded programming (November 25)
  • processor types
  • microcontroller architecture
  • in-circuit programming
  • embedded programming languages
  • development tools and environments
  • debugging
• 3D molding and casting (December 9)
  • types
  • soft tooling
  • mold design and manufacture
  • casting materials
  • composites
• collaborative technical development and project management (January 13)
  • version control
  • synchronization
  • merging
  • remote desktops
  • videoconferencing
  • scheduling
• 3D scanning and printing (January 27)
  • types
  • formats
  • scanning
  • printing
  • materials
• sensors, actuators, and displays (February 10)
  • sensors
  • actuators
  • displays
• interface and application programming (February 24)
  • interface protocols
  • application languages
  • graphics
  • user interfaces
• embedded networking and communications (March 10)
  • networking fundamentals
  • network protocols
  • physical layers
• machine design (March 24)
  • motors and actuators
  • motion control
  • machine control
  • rapid-prototyping of rapid-prototyping machines
• digital fabrication applications and implications (April 7)
  • furniture
  • housing
  • transporation
  • healthcare
  • environment
  • energy
  • play
  • art
  • development
• invention, intellectual property, and business models (April 21)
  • copyright
  • patents
  • free and open-source models
  • revenue models
  • case histories
• digital fabrication project development (May 5)
  • conception
  • proposal
  • review
  • prototyping
  • debugging, development
  • presentation
  • documentation