00 - Student bootcamp

FabAcademy organized a bootcamp for the first time to introduce students and give them a flying start for the coming weeks. This is really useful for getting everybody on the same level. Since this was the first time, there is some room for improvement.

plusses

  • It gives a good introduction in the way of working during the coming weeks. The tools, the lectures and the structure.
  • It already generated a regional spin-off with an introduction to Blender by Ferdinand Meier.
  • The soldering lecture by Duaa was great! A very structured lecture on how to solder, how to recognize shoddy solderwork and how to fix it.
  • Even though there are heavy restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there is more time to get to know your fellow students in the node and the regional nodes.

suggestions

  • Limit the introduction of worldwide nodes. I fully understand that everybody is proud on his node and wants to show it, but it takes five hours of presentation time this way. Perhaps highlight five extremes and stress that no matter how well equipped your lab is, it is you who has to do the work.
  • Make a link between the global lecture / introduction and a local hands-on. For example a hands-on soldering class after the online soldering introduction.
  • A more social introduction of the fellow students in the node. For example introduction into projects you already created. This way, you can get an idea what strengths your fellow students bring to the course.