“Fab Lab” coming to NC State Oct. 11-21
A mobile fabrication laboratory designed to get students interested in arts, design, science, engineering, technology will be on display at the North Carolina State University Brickyard Oct. 11-21.
The mobile “Fab Lab” features a laser cutter, vinyl cutter, 3D printer, electronics workbench and a “ShopBot” — a device used for precise cutting and designing on wood and other materials. The event is free to the public and uses free open source software tools like InkScape and GIMP.
Fab Labs, which originated at MIT’s Center for Bits Atoms (CBA), is an outreach initiative to bring these tools of innovation to the general community and foster a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship.
The NC State event, which will be coordinated by the NC State student chapter of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, supports the efforts of a regional offshoot, Fab Labs Carolinas, to build a permanent lab in Durham, NC. The founder of Fab Lab Carolinas is Dr. Tushar Mahale, an NC State industrial engineering alumnus who also co-founded Telos Medtec, LLC, a medical device company on Centennial Campus.
Fab Lab Carolinas is a non-profit project of the Piedmont Conservation Council. The activities of Fab Labs Carolinas have been supported by Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, MIT (CBA), ShopBot Tools, American Tobacco Campus and Geomagic.
