Fab Academy

From January to June 2018, I took part in Fab Academy, the globally-distributed learning programme of the Fablab network. I was based at the new Fablab at the University of Brighton, and one of 220 students from 45 countries, in 65 Fablabs around the world, learning ‘how to make (almost) anything’.

In 2021, I instructed Fab Academy at the new fablab that I manage at Plus X in Brighton.

Over 5 months, we learn about all aspects of digital fabrication: machines, materials and processes; design, coding and fabrication; documentation and workflow. It was hands-on, but also intellectually taxing. One minute, we’re mixing resin, the next poring over a microcontroller data sheet.

As a student, as well as learning the syllabus of the course, I also learned how to learn; how to get stuff done under immense time pressure; how to solve intractable problems; how to share with and learn from my colleagues; how to prototype; and how to document my work, and make it replicable.

Fab Academy is structured around 20 weekly lectures and assignments, each focusing on a different aspect of making. There’s a strong focus on electronics and software, with about half the course covering electronics design, production and programming. As a relative newcomer, this was a steep learning curve for me, but with help from some experts, I was able to get to grips with programming in a way that I’ve never been able to before.

I tried to make a list of all the things we cover, to give a sense of the breadth of the course.

Machines and tools

Desktop CNC milling machine (for mould-making and circuit board fabrication)
Flatbed CNC mill (for wood)
Laser cutter
3D printer
Vinyl cutter
Oscilloscope

Processes

Laser-cutting press-fit assemblies and chassis in plastic and wood
Milling pre-molds from modelling wax
Casting with silicon and resins
Milling sheet aluminium for folding
Milling copper circuit boards
SMD soldering (by hand)
Electronics design and production
Making composite materials

Software tools

2D CAD in Illustrator
3D (parametric) CAD in Fusion 360
Circuit design in Eagle

Coding

Arduino for hardware control
Processing for visualisation on the desktop
Communicating between devices with I2C, SPI and plain vanilla serial
Embedded programming with AVR chips (mostly ATMega32u4)

Documentation and workflow

Jekyll and markdown for static site generation
Git for version control and website deployment
Video editing

There are several places you can go to find out more about my student experience:

Many thanks to Kelly Snook and the University of Brighton for the incredible opportunity, the Fablab network for developing Fab Academy, and all the tutors, gurus and assessors for making it work; Daniele Ingrassia for helping me out of some tight spots; the Fablab Brighton crew for the fun times; and most of all Luiz H Bueno, our stellar instructor, without whom this would not have been possible.