Fab Academy is back this year at AS220 after successfully completing its pilot year. As the new labs coordinator at AS220, I will be helping Fab Academy Instructor, Shawn Wallace, through the 9-month digital fabrication program as both a student and an instructing assistant. The program is directed to those interested in personal fabrication, and as a student, I will be able to make (almost) anything!

So what exactly is Fab Academy?

Directly from the website, "The Fab Academy provides instruction and supervises investigation of mechanisms, applications, and implications of digital fabrication. It provides familiarity with technical options and capabilities, hands-on experience, and direction for further study." The certification program requires students to develop their own projects and document them.

Fab Academy stems from a Fab Lab, which consists of open hardware and software digital fabrication tools. Getting the Diploma is analogous to completing MIT's rapid-prototyping couse, "How To Make (almost) Anything", taught by Professor Neil Gershenfeld. The curriculum includes digital fabrication principles and practices, computer-controlled cutting, electronic design, embedded programming, 3D modeling, scanning, printing, and many more high tech topics. Students will be able to take principles and theoretical knowledge and put it into action by creating their very owns designs.

The main tools that students will become familiar with are the Epilog Mini Laser Cutter, Roland MDX-20 Milling Machine, and the Roland CAMM-1 Servo GX-24 Desktop Vinyl Cutter. With this equipment, you can make press fit construction kits, design and fabricate your own printed circuit board (PCB), make 3D casts and molds, and (almost) anything else.

Last year's Fab Academy at AS220 was incredibly successful. In fact, it was so successful that 5 out of the 15 overall graduates came from the AS220 Fab Lab! The 5 students all contributed to a blog, and documented their projects as the curriculum progressed. To check out all the cool projects of last year students, go here.

Open For Application

We are now accepting applications. The Fab Academy program will start October 6th with the participation of the Fab Lab Network around the world. As an alternative to enrolling in the 9-month long program, we are also offering two week intensives on every subject in the program at a more affordable cost. To apply please download the application form - here, and send it full filled to: coordination@fabacademy.org.

For more information about applying to the program visit our website - here.

If you have any further questions, feel free to email me at james@as220.org or Shawn Wallace at shawn@as220.org.

The labs is offering a series of introductory courses this October. To sign up, just click on the name of the class below.

Introduction to the Laser Cutter
Saturday, October 9th, 1-4pm
Learn how to use this tool to cut or etch wood, plastics, papers or textiles! From 1pm to 4pm we will cover the basics of using the laser cutter safely, techniques for working with different materials, and the software tools for preparing work for the cutter. This is a hands-on workshop; bring a project if you like!

Electronics for Artists 101: Two Weeks
Wednesdays, October 13th and 20th, 7pm-10pm
Have you ever wanted to learned some basic electronics to add to your art? Do you want blinky things? Monster switches? Retro red digital numbers? This is the first of a series of classes designed to teach the basics of electronics to those interested mostly in the practical with just a little bit of the theoretical. EA101 will introduce students to basic electronic components, how to design and prototype simple circuits, and where to go from there.

Open Kit Build Night
Tuesday, October 26th, 7pm-10pm
Buy a cool kit and come build it in our labs! We'll provide the tools and the space. Choose from a dazzling variety of the following kits! TV-b-Gone Minty Boost bring your own container & 9v battery That's right! For the mere cost of parts, you'll walk out of our lab with a blinking, singing, tv-annihilating toy you made yourself!