Fab Academy

Want to learn how to turn (almost) all your ideas into reality and become a maker?

Since 2017, the Fab Lab ULB has been training several people each year, intensively, in digital fabrication tools, the common foundation of Fab Labs.

The Fab Academy training is distributed in 75+ Fab Labs worldwide and integrates courses given by Neil Gershenfeld, director of the Center for Bits and Atoms (M.I.T.) and the sharing of knowledge by experts from all over the world.

The Fab Academy will take place in Belgium in the ULB Fab Lab.

The Fab Academy is a 20-week teaching program given within the Fab Lab network. It’s an intense program where you’ll discover digital manufacturing techniques. Each week is devoted to one technique. For 1 or 2 days you’ll learn the theory, both during Neil Gershenfeld’s video conference, and at the ULB Fab Lab. Then you’ll have the rest of the week to put it into practice and achieve the objective defined by Neil Gershenfeld. Each set of exercises is documented online and reviewed by ULB technical experts and network mentors.

The final weeks are devoted to completing a personal project incorporating at least 5 of the techniques learned during the course. You will be responsible for its design, production and presentation (website + video). You’ll learn the basics of project management: you’ll draw up a schedule and put in place the steps needed to produce and deploy your project.

The certificate of the Fab Academy will be awarded if each week’s production and the final project meet the program’s requirements. Each week a small number of projects are reviewed directly by Neil Gershenfeld, who will see your work at least once during the course.

At the end of the program, you’ll be able to prototype (almost) all your ideas, and above all you’ll be joining the close-knit community of Fab Labs worldwide.

ULB : a guarantee of quality

In addition to Neil Gershenfeld’s teaching, a team of experts working at the Fab Lab ULB will be with you every week: they’ll teach you how to use the machines, support you in your projects, and review and comment on your creations. They’ve been through the Fab Academy themselves and know the course inside out. Our team covers a wide range of expertise and is now recognized worldwide for its expertise and the quality of its projects.

The ULB Fab Lab is equipped with all the machines required for the Fab Academy course. You will have privileged access to the site during the course.

Target audience

The program is open to everyone: researchers, students, the curious, entrepreneurs, people undergoing retraining, DIY enthusiasts… whatever your status or qualifications.

The Fab Academy training is particularly well suited to :

Practical information

Prerequisites

No prerequisites or knowledge are required. However, a certain ease with computer tools will be a great help.

On the other hand, the Fab Academy is an intense course requiring total commitment over the 5 months of training (expect to be involved 20 hours a week if you’re already comfortable with modeling and electronics, 30 hours if you’re not).

Weekly program

  1. Principles and Practices
  2. Project Management
  3. Computer-Aided Design
  4. Computer-Controlled Cutting
  5. Electronics Production
  6. Computer-Controlled Machining
  7. Electronics Design
  8. Molding and Casting
  9. Composites
  10. Embedded Programming
  11. 3d Scanning and Printing
  12. Input Devices
  13. Interface and Application Programming
  14. Mechanical Design
  15. Output Devices
  16. Networking and Communications
  17. Machine Design
  18. Applications and Implications
  19. Project Development
  20. Invention, Intellectual Property, and Income

For more information : Class Curriculum | Fab Academy | Fab Academy

They were trained at the Fab Lab ULB

Any questions ?

We’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have about the Fab Academy program. Come and see us at the Fab Lab ULB or send us an e-mail at fablab@ulb.be.