FAB6: Industrial [R]evolution
6th International Fab Lab Forum and Symposium on Digital Fabrication
15-20 of August 2010
Like communications and computation have made the transition from analog to digital, laboratory research is leading to the development of fundamentally digital fabrication processes in which programs don’t just describe things, they are things. The digitalization of fabrication enables its personalization, allowing anyone to make anything, anywhere. Fab Labs began as an outreach project from CBA, to provide access to prototype tools for personal fabrication. They’ve since grown into a global network, with the number of labs doubling roughly every 1.5 years. To keep up with this growth, a non-profit Fab Foundation, for-profit Fab Fund, and educational Fab Academy are being established.
FAB6 will bring together delegates from the global Fab Lab community reaching from the USA to Afghanistan for tutorials, hands-on projects, program discussions, and research planning in areas including sustainability, intellectual property, bio-technology and open source models like in Open Design.
FAB6 is the next step in the Fab Lab evolution. By sharing knowledge and making production resources accessible, Fab Lab is not only a catalyst for a new industrial revolution, it also helps to stimulate product diversity and a higher level of product organisation (= evolution). This is characterised by the distributed nature of a cross-border and cross-cultural network culture.
A special symposium, held on August 19th, will survey the science behind digital fabrication, and explore its social, economic, and educational implications. It will feature presentations from academic, governmental, and industrial leaders, as well as grass-roots inventors and organizations. One of the lecturers will be Neil Gershenfeld, Director of the center of bits and Atoms (MIT Boston), founder of Fab Lab. Registration for both workshops and symposium is through www.fab6.nl and assistance is available for unfunded participants.
The FAB6 symposium is being hosted by Waag Society.
FAB6 follows earlier events in India, the USA., South Africa, and Norway; there’s background on FabLabs and digital fabrication on http://cba.mit.edu/FAB6.
This year’s conference is organized by Waag Society, SURFnet, The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, The Amsterdam Innovation Motor, and MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA).
FAB6 will be held in the same week of Sail Amsterdam. The well known tall ships event inspires a design challenge set to the creative Fab Lab community. Vessels in various sizes and shapes will be produced and sailed in one of the famed Amsterdam canals closing FAB6 on Friday afternoon August 20. The promise of a spectacular parade of creativity!
FAB6 is hosted by Waag Society, MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA), Protospace, Fab Lab Groningen, Cabfablab, Fab Lab Amersfoort, Square One, SURFnet, The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and The Amsterdam Innovation Motor.
Press contact, for interviews and more information:
Michelle ‘t Hart
michelle@waag.org