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A Fab Lab – or Fabrication Laboratory – is a workshop equipped with digital manufacturing equipment that allows users to produce just about anything they can imagine. The concept, originating at MIT in 2001, is designed to bring technology to the general population, especially those that don’t usually have access. The idea became so popular, by 2013 it had been replicated more than 125 times around the world.
The 350m² facility in Haifa has the largest 3d printer room of any Fab Lab anywhere. “We are a public institution and it’s important for us to use the facility for education,” explains lab manager, Tom Sofer, a Technion graduate and self-declared geek. “Our objective is to ignite interest in the next generation of hi-tech specialists. That’s why we have a large classroom equipped with 27 brand new 3d printers. ”
The idea for the Haifa Lab came from its principal donors, the Wagner family from Illinois. In 2007, the family set up a similar project in Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, that proved to be extremely popular. Although 3d printing and digital manufacturing exist in Israel, the technology is only beginning to penetrate the sphere of makers and hobbyists. To boost interest – especially in the educational arena, the source of tomorrow’s engineers, programers, and designers – the Wagners decided to establish their well-equipped facility in Haifa.
“Most of our desks were downloaded from the internet,” declares Sofer. He points to a credit label on the furniture’s side showing the source of the computer file used to carve the pieces. It’s one of several large colorful tables scattered around the lab supporting their hi-tech equipment.
Sofer – who pioneered Israel’s firstHackerspace – manages the lab together with content developer, Dr. Jonathan Nathan. They are assisted by five instructors who implement the educational programs.
In cooperation with schools throughout the region, classes of children will attend Fab Lab where they’ll be taught the fundamentals of 3d design on the workstations. Once they’ve grasped it, they’ll be given the opportunity to design their own creations and print them on the spot. The Lab is dotted with some of the intricate models already produced by the staff as they set up the facility.
“We’ve had enormous interest from hi-tech companies,” explains Sofer. “Delegations have already visited and they understand the potential. It’s early days yet, but we’ll be doing cooperative projects with industry as soon as we’re properly up and running. It’s in their interests too, to encourage the next generation of engineers and designers.”
Each of 25 FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) printers in the classroom is a cube of about 35 cm. They manufacture objects by injecting small quantities of molten plastic on each pass across a printing bed. Little by little, guided by a computer, they create the desired model.
“They work like sophisticated hot-glue guns,” explains Sofer. “The finished product isn’t very strong, but it can be used as to create a mold for mass production of something made of a different material.”
Two high-definition PolyJet printers inject a gel as well as plastic, building a supporting scaffold to enable printing of any shape or complexity imaginable. “The printers were delivered with the files to produce a functioning Rubik’s Cube,” says Sofer. “I tried it, and it worked perfectly.”
The Lab also contains laser wood and vinyl cutters, CNC milling machines, 34 networked PC workstations, six 3d scanners, and general work spaces.
In addition to the daytime educational programs, the Fab Lab will be open to the general public twice a week in the evenings, allowing enthusiasts and makers to tinker, build and explore.
“We’re planning an Internet of Things (IoT) Hackathon for Pesach,” says Sofer enthusiastically. “We’ll get scientists, engineers and everyone here, building amazing things.”
Michael Diamond
Newsdrawer
http://www.newsdrawer.com/haifa-opens-the-largest-educational-3d-print-classroom-in-the-world/