FabLab.nl

Every now and then I spend a day in a FabLab just to see what people are doing. What I notice is how all visitors tend to leave with a big smile on their face, after having used the capabilities of the FabLab. Somehow making things appeals to us all on an emotional level.

During Fab6 I asked a few people to share one anecdote from their FabLab about something that caught their eye. I only recorded three of them. But I think the format worked, so I will try and start collecting some more stories from the FabTables we have every six weeks.

How holding an object in your hand changes your idea

For kids FabLab is the ‘new normal’

Seeing a FabLab is getting curious about a FabLab

(See all 40+ videos about Fab6)

Fab6, the 6th global conference of the world wide FabLab network was a blast last week.

We, the FabLabs in the Netherlands loved to be your host! Bye bye for now ….... see you in Lima in 2011.

Fab6 crowd waving good bye (photo by Frosti)

Meanwhile don’t be a stranger on-line. Stay in touch. (And here’s a PDF on how to stay in touch)

The FabLab Foundation Netherlands would like to thank everybody who helped make Fab6 happen!

• Paulien, Fiona, Peter, Nicole, Sherry for getting the show on the road.
• Jaap, Harmen, Xander, Gertjan, Alex, Bart, Peter, Thuur, Petra, Siert, Joris, Anu for being great hosts in the FabLabs of Amsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague, Amersfoort, and Groningen. I’ve heard nothing but great reactions from participants about the spaces you have created.
• Our kind sponsors and supporters
• All participants, who shaped the sessions and strengthened the FabLab spirit by coming to Fab6
• The courageous boat builders that gave us a spectacular and hilarious closing activity

Thank you all!

Can’t get enough? There’s heaps of photos and video’s on-line.

See 30+ videos at FabLab’s own video channel.

Pictures are available from:
Anu
Matt Cottam
Fing
Mount Elliott Makerspace
Fabulous St. Pauli
QuadShop
Us Media
Jean Baptiste Paris
FabLab Vestmannareyja
Ton Zijlstra

Some of the session notes can be found on the front page of the FabLab wiki, under Fab6. Also feel free to join and continue the discussion on the FabFolk forum.

Thank you to all who shared photos, videos and session notes on-line.

After months of preparation volunteers, the Waag Society production team and MIT are ready to welcome you to

The yearly global conference about digital fabrication and FabLab community meet-up, August 16th-20th

The ‘Stichting FabLab Nederland’, the Dutch FabLab Foundation thanks all those involved in making this event happen! Dank jullie wel!

Program
All relevant information on the program can be found at the Fab6 website of course, but we’ll highlight a few things here.

• Sunday August 15th: early bird party with the Instructables Restaurant. All the furniture, as well as the food is based on designs and recipes found at Instructables.com.
• Monday will see the official opening and a series of workshops in Amsterdam.
• Tuesday activities take place in the FabLab in Utrecht, Groningen as well as Amersfoort, where the Dutch mobile FabLab has set up camp.
• Wednesday activities take place in the FabLabs in Amsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague, Groningen and Amersfoort (mobile FabLab)
• Thursday symposium day at the Dutch Royal Academy of Sciences (KNAW) in Amsterdam. You can still join us there.
• Friday, closing sessions in Amsterdam

This year we explore the implications and consequences of personal digital fabrication for art, business, industry, culture and education. We are poised on the threshold of a new era, like that of the Industrial Revolution, emerging from access to low- cost, high-precision fabrication tools and powerful Internet-based communication capabilities which are changing the ways we think about and approach innovation, invention, intellectual property, creative processes, manufacturing and distribution, business models, and social and cultural networks. In a world where anyone can access the tools to make or create almost anything, the possibilities are limitless. This is the Industrial®Evolution, a socioeconomic and technical evolution from mechanical means of production to digital means of production and communication.

You can follow Fab6 on-line with @Fab6nl, streaming video through the Polycom video conferencing system, through the tag #fab6 and at 23Video.

We welcome you to the Netherlands and to Fab6!

(English version below)

Woensdag 25 augustus is er weer een FabTafel. Na een week vol Fab6, treffen we elkaar in het gloednieuwe FabLab Arnhem! Je bent vanaf 15:00 van harte welkom.

De vorige FabTafel bezochten we ook al een nieuw FabLab, dat in Leuven, om Marc Lambaerts eindelijk eens een tegenbezoek te kunnen brengen na al zijn ritjes naar het noorden om ons te ontmoeten. Dit keer dus wederom een nieuw FabLab als gastheer. Het FabLab Arnhem gaat met het nieuwe collegejaar echt van start aan de Hogeschool Arnhem. Vorige maand werd het officieel geopend.

Bij de FabTafel is er uitgebreid gelegenheid kennis te maken met FabLab Arnhem, na te praten over Fab6 en nieuwe plannen te smeden voor het FabLab netwerk in de komende jaren. Laat even weten of je komt (mail ton@fablab.nl), zodat we daar in catering rekening mee kunnen houden.

FabLab Arnhem is gevestigd in de D-vleugel (ruimte D0.05) van het gebouw van de Faculteit Techniek van de Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen, Ruitenberglaan 26, 6826 CC Arnhem

FabTafels vinden elke zes weken plaats bij een van de FabLabs in Nederland. FabTafels beginnen om 15:00 en gaan altijd door ongeacht het aantal deelnemers. De volgende data, na 25 augustus, zijn 6 oktober, 17 november, 5 januari (2011). Telkens vanaf 15:00 uur.

English version

Wednesday August 25th the next FabTable will take place. In the week after Fab6, we’ll meet at the newly opened FabLab Arnhem.

During the last FabTable we also visited a new FabLab, in Leuven. Finally we could make a return visit to Marc Lambaerts, after the many trips north he made to join us at FabTables. This time another new FabLab is host to the FabTable. Having been opened officially last month, the FabLab Arnhem will really get started now with the start of the new university year.

At the FabTable we will have ample time to get to know FabLab Arnhem better, reflect on our experiences at Fab6, and to make new plans for the coming months.

Let me know if you will attend the FabTable (mail ton@fablab.nl), so we can make sure we have enough drinks and snacks.

FabLab Arnhem is located in the D-wing (room D0.05) of the building for the technology faculty at Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen, address Ruitenberglaan 26, 6826 CC Arnhem

FabTables take place every six weeks, regardless of who is or isn’t coming. We start at 15:00hrs. The next FabTables will take place, besides August 25th, on October 6th, November 17th and January 5th (2011).

If you think a FabLab is cool, then you probably think a mobile FabLab is doubly cool. It not only does what a FabLab does, but you can invite it to come to you.

That’s exactly what the people behind the Hamburg FabLab initiative have done. To demonstrate to interested people what a FabLab can be, they arranged for a visit of Jaap Vermaas’s FabLab Truck.

From August 4th until August 6th you can find the FabLab Truck parked in Hamburg, and you can take part in different workshops from 14:00-21:00.

They made a little video introducing both the truck and the FabLab.

The FabLab Truck comes with one Makerbot 3D printer, a laser cutter, a vinyl cutter, and the FabLab video conferencing system. A RepRap 3D printer and a CNC milling machine are still in the process of being built.

For more pictures of the FabLab Truck and the FabLab Hamburg initiative see their Flickr photoset.

Today the FabLab Arnhem officially opened. FabLab Arnhem is housed at the HAN, university for applied sciences in Arnhem. With great enthusiasm a large group of people at the HAN worked to make it happen, and today that effort came to fruition.

In the presence of Glorianna Davenport, of MIT’s Medialab, the birthplace of the FabLab concept, Ella Hueting and Titia Bredee, directors of the faculty for technology and education respectively signed the license of the Dutch FabLab Foundation, that is connected to using the FabLab name. For the Dutch FabLab Foundation I had the honor of signing the license granting Arnhem FabLab status. Sadly I could not be present in person, as I was just returning from presenting FabLab at Lift 10 in Marseille. But immediately after landing in Amsterdam I connected with FabLab Arnhem through Skype, so I could see the proceedings in the FabLab, and they could see me sign the license in front of the camera.

Glorianna Davenport talking, Titia Bredee showing the signed license, me doing the same on the screen.

FabLab Arnhem will open to the public five days a week in September. They will be busy finishing the installation of all necessary machines and equipment until then. But today was the official opening with a lot of people attending. More pictures are available.

Toasting the new FabLab Arnhem, ltr Ella Hueting (director of technology), Inez Kohlmann (FabLab project leader), Glorianna Davenport (MIT Medialab), Titia Bredee (director of education)

FabLab Arnhem is the fifth FabLab in the Netherlands, and combined with the two FabLabs in Belgium, and the mobile FabLab, the eighth FabLab in the BeNeLux. We are happy to welcome the FabLab Arnhem at the HAN into the network!

(all pictures in this posting by Hans Mestrum)

(English version below)

Woensdag 2 juni is er weer een FabTafel. We zijn te gast bij FabLab De Waag in Amsterdam. Tijd dus om weer eens met elkaar bij te praten, en ervaringen uit te wisselen. Je bent vanaf 15:00 van harte welkom in het gebouw Pakhuis de Zwijger.

Naast elkaar bijpraten over de laatste ontwikkelingen in de labs, en de Fab6 conferentie, is er ook gelegenheid te kijken naar de eind-presentaties van de deelnemers aan de FabAcademy. Alex Schaub heeft vanuit Amsterdam de FabAcademy begeleid. Verder staan de ontwikkeling van de FabLab modules en community voor de website ter discussie, en is er informatie (ook om mee te nemen!) over de nieuwe Unlimited Design Contest die gaat beginnen.

Laat even weten of je komt (mail ton@fablab.nl), zodat we daar in catering rekening mee kunnen houden.

FabTafels vinden elke zes weken plaats bij een van de FabLabs in Nederland. FabTafels beginnen om 15:00 en gaan altijd door ongeacht het aantal deelnemers. De volgende data zijn 14 juli, 25 augustus, 6 oktober, 17 november, 5 januari (2011). Telkens vanaf 15:00 uur.

English version


Wednesday June 2nd will see another edition of the FabTables. FabLab Amsterdam at The Waag Society is our host. A good opportunity to catch up, share stories and experiences. We’ll start at 15:00, location ‘Pakhuis de Zwijger’.

Next to catching up with eachother and hear the latest info on the Fab6 conference, you can also be witness to the final presentations of the participants in the FabAcademy. Alex Schaub was the one at FabLab Amsterdam, helping facilitate FabAcademy. Also the development of the FabLab website and community modules will be discussed, and there is more information (also to take back to your own FabLab) about the new Unlimited Design Contest that is about to start!

Let me know if you will attend the FabTable (mail ton@fablab.nl), so we can make sure we have enough drinks and snacks.

FabTables take place every six weeks, regardless of who is or isn’t coming. We start at 15:00hrs. The next FabTables will take place on July 14th, August 25th, October 6th, November 17th and January 5th (2011).

As described earlier there was a large FabLab presence at the SHiFT conference in Lisbon last week. Part of that was a documentary about FabLab. This 14 minute film was made by Elmine Wijnia, based on 2 days of filming in 2 FabLabs, and doing interviews with both visitors and staff of the labs.

The documentary was shown twice during the SHiFT conference, once as part of the FabLab workshop, and once as the official premiere in the main room. Now that it has been also shown to the FabLab community at the FabTable today, it is time to reveal it to the wider world.

It’s a documentary, not a clip, so do take the 14 minutes of time to watch it all. Enjoy.

See FabLab video channel at 23video for more video material on FabLab.

Last week the SHiFT conference took place in Portugal. FabLab and personal production were a large part of the program, as you can read in a previous posting.

My talk ‘Maker Households’ was the closing key-note of the SHiFT conference last Saturday. This posting gives you the slides (with text) and the video of my talk (made by Siert Wijnia with his iPhone. Thanks!). The video starts about a minute after the beginning of my presentation.

This is the text that goes before the start of the video: I am here today to do two things: Pedro and his team asked me to try and bring everything that happened in the past 2 days together under one notion: ‘Maker Households’. And the second thing I want to do is to talk to you about how we can start looking at DIY not just as a skill or skillset, but also as a literacy. So we can live in these what I call ‘Maker Households’.

But to be able to do both of those things I need to take a somewhat winding detour. I need to discuss internet and mobile communications with you, what is great about it, and what is problematic about it. And I also need to first talk to you about the state of the world we live in.

Because only then you will see why I think DIY as a literacy, or Maker Households, is not just an exciting thing, but also may well be our only feasible way forward.

So let’s start with the detour leading up to this story that I created over the past two days. And the detour starts with something you are probably familiar with. In the past 15 yrs we mainstreamed 2 new infrastructures and connected people in the furthest regions of our globe to it: Internet, and mobile communications. These infrastructures are unique compared to any other infrastructure that went before. First of all. Conventional infrastructures basically always connect two geographic locations. Your bathroom to the sea..

Now hit play :)

Ton Zijlstra on Maker Households – SHiFT 2010 from Elmine Wijnia on Vimeo.

Closing key-note of the SHiFT 2010 Conference

These are the slides (with the text below the slides)

A great illustration of my talk, made by Bauke Schildt / @bschildt

This week the SHiFT Conference will take place in Lisbon. The third edition of this conference, looking at the societal impact of technology, has DIY – Do It Yourself as a theme. That is of course a fitting place to discuss FabLab as well!

FabLab Netherlands will be well represented at the conference. Protospace’s Siert Wijnia and RepRap-Yoda Erik de Bruijn, will do a talk and a 3 hour workshop on personal production with a RepRap as well as (hopefully) a laser cutter.

Elmine Wijnia has been busy interviewing and filming us these past months for her short documentary film about the Dutch FabLabs. The english version of the final result will be premiered at the SHiFT conference. She will also give a talk on the meaning of DIY in our digital and networked age. (The Dutch version of the documentary will be screened the first time at next week’s FabTable.) She also made two virals for the conference. One of them even ran as a TV-ad on Portuguese national television. The other is set in a FabLab. After next week’s FabTable both versions will be available in the FabLab video channel hosted with our friends from 23Video.com.

Elmine Wijnia’s video ad on Portuguese TV

As last speaker of the conference Ton Zijlstra has the job of trying to tie everything discussed at the SHiFT conference together in an overarching narrative. His talk ‘Maker Households’ will discuss the opportunities full digitization bring for local resilience in the context of a resource-limited and fully networked world. Read the proposal in my blog.

Material used at the conference will of course be shared on-line and here. Follow the conference Twitter stream at @shiftconf Friday and Saturday for live updates.