Week 00: Student Bootcamp, Fab Academy Intro, and Moving to Portugal

Soooooo…. I have lived in Saudi Arabia my whole life, close to my family, and the longest I’ve been away was last summer for about a month that I spent in the US (more on that on my substack, will have a post soon there—-I had to do the plug >_< ).

Now, I am onto a new challenge of moving and living in a new country, where I almost know no one, and for the most part, that's what my gap year is all about: pursuing uncomfortable, new situations because growth never really happens when you are in your comfort zone.

I've been doing some video documentation of my journey across my platforms, so check them out :)

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First meeting with the Local + Japan Fab Academy Crew

Some of the first people I got to know in Lisbon where my local Fab Academy crew. They are amazing! Shoutout Andre, Ricardo, and Carlos.

We got to, of course, tour the lab that'll be home for the next 2.5 months, learn about the expectations from the program, and share our goals.

Also, I got to meet the crew I'll be part of in Japan. Shoutout Yuichi, Kieran, and Fumiko. This meeting was virtual though :)

To be honest, I was fascinated by the diversity of the group I'm part of (and later on the whole Fab Academy community): some are my age, some are younger, others have already finished most of their careers, some are using this to boost their career. It was crazy to me ngl.

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The 2 Day Student Bootcamp

Then comes the student bootcamp, my first real interaction with the full Fab Academy community. Through the bootcamp, we go to learn about some of the best practices to make the most of our time during Fab Academy, got to learn more about what is expected from us, and the structure we'll follow locally at our labs (that was part of conversations with our local instructors).

This is how our structure generally looks like:

1) Wednesday - Global Session:

Our week basically starts every Wednesday with a lecture given about our week's topic by Prof. Neil and a review of our work from the previous week.

2) Thursday - Tuesday: Local Review + Getting to Work + Daily Check-Ins:

We have a quick debrief with our instructors on Thursday (either in-person at the lab or virtually depending on the week's topic), and we start working on our tasks, projects, and documentation. Each day, we have a check in with our intructors about our progress.

Some weeks could be different depending on their requirements, where we need to learn something on-premisis in the lab with our intructors or where we need more support to learn a skill. That's where our intructors will help!

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Here are some insights from the student bootcamp:

  • If it isn't documented, it didn't happen and you need to do it again :)

  • Supply-side > demand-side time management

  • Spiral development is integral. You can't be perfect from the start, you just keep improving on your work.

  • Steps to 3D Modeling: Sketch on Paper then go to software

  • Best practices for 3D modeling include: working with real measurements, starting with simple shapes, dividing the #D model into sections, using layers and groups with proper naming, regularly saving, and iterating and reviewing the work repeatedly.

  • The primary principle in Fab Academy, especially in electronics: Simple + working > complex + broken

  • We need to plan ahead on how we'd integrate each week into our final project.

I am SO excited for the program and ready to learn and grow throughout it!