IF WE GIVE ACCESS TO DIGITAL FABRICATION, CAN EVERYONE BE A MAKER?
We can see all around us that world is changing fast and the entry barrier is reducing, machines are getting more affordable. Those were only for professionals are now more accessible to all with Cloud software. Our audience is then extending from professionals to amateurs, the world of makers (DIY).
Dassault Systèmes is supporting this Fablab and Makerspace movement. These are spaces for learning. More and more universities are practicing “learning by doing” but this is also a space for anyone to DIY, means most of the time repair things. We believe that these spaces are a good start for entrepreneurship project.
The key is Human, be social!
This FabLab is an opportunity to meet people to learn, to share, to create together. More enabling the physical collaboration is key to extend and growth the community virtually. This is why an online digital platform is essential to interact, socialize, collaborate, better work together and to extend the reach of the community outside the physical space, ultimately to connect those Fablabs on a worldwide stand point.
In those Fablabs we observe 2 main meet-ups:
- Young talents want to reveal themselves and connect with seniors who share their knowledge and transfer know-how. Generation gap will now more & more be reduced.
- Amateurs meets professionals. As most of the professionals are our users, we do believe we are legitimate to empower these communities of makers and accompany them up to their entrepreneurship activities.
Not only people would design, simulate and prototype in the Fablab, but also access to online services such manufacturing offered through the marketplace! This connects designers to factories to prototype and produce parts with industrial machines.
This Fab Lab at Boston is a 3100 sq. feet of fluid co-working space has been set up in collaboration with MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms. The lab is connected to over 1000 other maker spaces through the Fab Foundation network.
Services and Solutions
At the center of Fab Lab Boston's operations is the Mentor-Fabber Collaboration Model. To be a Mentor and get full access to all the tools and facilities of the lab, a Fabber (user) has to invest a total of 20 hours in mentor-assisted training across Laser, CNC Milling, Router, Vinyl and Precision Milling machines. Anyone can be a fibber, as long as they are collaborative, experimental and ready to learn new skills. Based on who is using the lab, we have the following modes of engagement:
Bring Your Own Projects (BYOP): Fabbers and Mentors from the Dassault Systemes community can work on their own personal projects, be it a special purpose drone, a better designed bookshelf with smart lighting fixtures or a light-weight laptop accessory for everyday use.
Fab Lab Startup Kit: We have a ready repository of individual and collaborative projects, indexed from simple to complex, that a new fabber can immediately start working on with his mentors.
Work on an in-house project: Fab Lab has a number of longer term projects that a fabber or mentor can be part of and enhance her/ his skills in the process. These can range from collaborative projects with MIT or other partners, proof-of-concept prototypes with local startups or exchange projects with other Fab Labs from across the world.
Bootcamps and Hackathons: We welcome project and activity-based collaborations with external agencies such as STEM organizations, local schools and universities across themes of Education, Engineering and Entrepreneurship. These agencies can use the Fab Lab facility to host events that foster collaboration, creativity and aim to push the envelope of maker movement.
We would like to thank our hardware partners, Dell Computers and Wacom, for the support extended to the 3DEXPERIENCE Lab Boston and to the community of makers and entrepreneurs.
Similar projects
FABLAB
Open Sources Drones
Civilian drones have been around for years offering people the opportunity to do what they cannot normally do from the ground. Aerial photography, rescue missions, agricultural monitoring, air pollution watch, and even the all new drone racing. Two types of drones are mainly used today. They are helicopter-like machines and airplane-like machines.
FABLAB
3DEXPERIENCE® CENTER
Aerospace companies are in the vortex of turbulent times.The speed and skill with which they adopt to the tumult will determine their fate. How can we help your aerospace company deliver more affordable products faster? How can you more efficiently integrate simulation and certification at every phase of a program to reduce costs and minimize risk?
FABLAB
FabLab, a world of makers
DESIGN, MAKE, SHARE IN FABLABS: To make things, to better learn, repair or to prototype, people meet in our fabrication space. To empower these new communities of users, 3DS supports FabLab initiatives around the world and anticipated this movement by setting up its own 3 years ago on the Paris Campus.
CITY
XtreeE: Additive Construction
The construction industry needs a digital revolution. Even though it is the world´s biggest employer, the industry has been posting profitability losses for over three decades.
LIFE
DIGITAL ORTHOPAEDICS
Have you been in a situation where a generic treatment did not work very well for you or someone you know? Have you ever had that nagging feeling that maybe the doctor (as good as he or she may be) should really be treating YOU rather than a generalized representation of you?
INTERNET OF THINGS
Ultrascope
Hunting for asteroids just became more accessible thanks to Open Space Agency's (OSA) Ultrascope, an automated robotic observatory that anyone can fabricate using a 3D printer. Budding astronomers receive, for as little as 750 USD, a starter kit containing the necessary components and the 3D models to print the chassis along with instructions to assemble the components together.
LIFE
BIOMODEX
With studies estimating the annual number of deaths due to medical errors in the hundreds of thousands, the time has come to revise the way the medical profession gains knowledge and experience. Advances in 3D printing technology and virtual simulation are creating new opportunities to improve the quality of treatments and patient safety.
Submit your project
Do you think your project is the next big thing?
Join the team !