Fab Academy
The Fab Academy is the main educational program of the Fablab Network, offered by labs around the world. The Fab Academy provides instruction and supervises investigation of mechanisms, applications and implications of digital fabrication.
The Fab Academy was launched by MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA), to provide local access to advanced instruction for students in these labs exceeding the educational resources available to them. It links groups of students and instructors in Fablabs, with online video collaboration and lectures by a global faculty.
The Fab Academy offers a 6 month program on digital fabrication, and it could be taken in any of the participating labs. The Fab Academy offers Certificates on relevant technical topics, and a Diploma aimed at vocational and technical training for employment and investment (along with assistance to its graduates in those areas). These are accredited by the Fab Academy; it is anticipated that they will by followed by a Bachelor’s degree to be offered under applicable regional accreditation, along with post-graduate study.
Fab Academy Certificates provide familiarity with technical options and capabilities, hands-on experience, and direction for further study. Each requires, and is evaluated by, developing and documenting projects. They are periodically renewed to reflect best practices. The Certificates typically require one week. They are combined in the Diploma, which is roughly comparable to completing MIT’s rapid-prototyping course 'How To Make (almost) Anything'. Progress is evaluated by skills and projects rather than time or credits.
The Fab Academy accepted the first Diploma students in the Fall of 2009. Admission is limited by available space, and based on balancing the students’ backgrounds, interests, and experience, as well as project portfolios. Fab Academy tuition is priced to cover the local costs of instruction, facilities, and materials, as well as global capacity. Where possible, support is sought for needs-based tuition assistance.
For further information on the programme please visit:
To follow the Fab Academy 2012 video recordings, please visit the Vimeo channel.
