Fab 16 Montréal – Fabricating the Commons

Reaching a good level of sustainability and increasing performance are challenges facing many FabLabs around the world. The main objective of this research is to measure the effect of the long-term plan on FabLabs performance and sustainability. Researchers discuss the path have been taken by FabLab AlAHSA team to rapidly increase the performance that lead to improve the sustainability indication. Working with operation excellence from planning, doing, checking then adjusting along with flexi...

The drive for change is transcending all layers of society. The call for more social justice spreads throughout research, policy, industry and civil society. Practices are flourishing from the individual to the territorial level, creating heterogeneous communities of practitioners. People are juggling with many forms of innovation to reshape in parallel many dimensions of systems, looking for more equity, sustainability, and comfort. It has become necessary to reflect at the innovation ecosys...

This case study aims to share a collaborative workflow to develop a chemistry science ludic learning tool, accessible to both, normal vision (NV), and blind, and low vision impared (BLV) students. A 3D model was designed, seeking to facilitate chemical elements' electrons configuration representation, using information from the periodic table. The model was transformed into a physical product using digital fabrication technologies, allowing to reproduce Braille captions into each product comp...

In times of multiple crisis, embracing alternative materials, products, and manufacturing systems is indispensable together with a change in our relation to them. Constant technological development alongside surging consumer demand for the new leads to the multi-faceted problem of ever-increasing production and waste of electronic goods. Starting from the principles of openness, democratization of technology, and distributed manufacturing, the design-driven research project DIYR (Do-It-Yourse...

Preventing recurrence of diabetic foot ulcers in high-risk patients with current standard methods of care remains a challenge. In collaboration with a FabLab and a medical supply store, an open-source diabetic foot monitoring and feedback system integrated into an orthosis was developed and evaluated. The developed system could prevent worsening of the disease, although further technical and clinical validation is needed. The FabLab was used as an environment to combine modern digital fabrica...

The Global Fab City Initiative's Full Stack model has six interconnected operative layers that provide a vision for self-sustained urban economies. Layer five calls for "New forms of learning." Instead of searching for an unspecified "New," we propose an instructional design approach to education that utilizes teaching and learning methods based on their Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs). To begin, we demonstrate the feasibility of active and holistic STEAM education with the course "Ich kann...

This study analyses the points of interest, doubts, manufactured projects, obtained from more than 200 small-scale manufacturing laboratories throughout the year 2020 using netnographic techniques, through non-participatory observation of the interactions in participation groups in the social networks where the different laboratories interact and provide feedback internally. The participations of the members were collected from January 2020 to December 2020, subsequently performing a categori...

Fab Lab ecosystem are conducive to the integration of women with an interest in STEM areas, enhancing opportunities in different areas of engineering and related disciplines. This integration is not only from practical research, but also in scientific production. To identify the presence of women in the Fab Lab ecosystem, a quantitative analysis was carried out, identifying two contexts: Fab Academy between 2008 and 2021, and Fab Lab Research Papers between 2012 and 2019. The results reveal a...

Start-ups are essential for the future innovation and economic growth, particularly in developing countries. A dynamic ecosystem, structured programs, tailored training and digital fabrication facilities are the keys to ensure the startups survive in the era of disruptive technologies and the fourth industrial revolution. The platforms that match these requirements are makerspaces and fab labs. In this work, the focus is to explore the role of a makerspace in assisting students' startups in d...

Distinctly and in tandem, constructionism (an educational philosophy) and digital fabrication (a process or workflow in which manufacturing machines and tools are controlled by computer) have received amplified consideration in current efforts at K-12 education reform. This article, which reflects on over five decades of documents, transcripts, and interviews with participants, illustrates how constructionism in K-12 educational technology has evolved starting at MIT from the inception of the...

This paper explores the role of digital fabrication or digital craft participation in improving wellbeing, particularly for those from disadvantaged groups. CNC Craft, a small company based in the South-West of England, collaborated with the University of Exeter to explore how to quantify the wellbeing gains of participating in digital fabrication/craft sessions. A feeling star was used to capture participant responses measuring six key attributes; happiness, hopefulness, skilfulness, confide...

The paper describes the output of a PhD research project focused on opportunities of sustainability in the maker world. The project arises from the need to achieve a sustainable emancipation at all levels of designing, from the engineering and the industrial design to the level of do-it-yourself people, thanks to the creation of new dedicated tools. DIY-people are seen as accelerators of the transition to a sustainable society, in particular they play the role of intermediary between technica...

FabLabs are open and inclusive co-creation areas, by sharing not just tools and materials, but also knowledge, experiences and ideas. FabLab is not just a physical place, but also a meeting hub for makers, fabbers and any kind of participants to co-learn, collaborate and co-create. This mentality of FabLab has contributed to create the open and community-based maker culture of today. However, with the rise of virtual collaborative experiences and the appendage of Covid-19 Pandemic lockdowns a...

The goal of this paper is to review the literature on knowledge creation of digital literacy in creative laboratories (LC) situated in libraries, with particular attention to the situation in Quebec. It aims to facilitate the dissemination of this knowledge among staff working in these spaces in order to contribute to the development of a new professional practice. The article consists of a review of the literature about the link between digital literacy and maker culture complemented by an a...

Urban life is now beginning to emit the first signs of regeneration at a time of covid-19 pandemic; this calls for municipal public organs to urgently mitigate the effects of social isolation through the redesign of urban spaces. To this goal, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, the Municipality, in partnership with German partners Wuppertal, GIZ and TUMI, and other local organisations, implemented an intervention entitled "Zone 30", that foresees the establishment of local roads with a maximum speed ...

In Chile, the participation and presence of women in research in the fields of construction and architecture has increased considerably in recent years, but there is still a long way to go. The experimental research presented in this article not only demonstrates female leadership in the area of mechanization and development of robotic processes for the area of architectural design and construction, but also proposes a structural and prefabricated innovation to optimize the processes of assem...

The search for sustainable and biodegradable materials has been growing to replace petroleum-derived materials, commonly used by industry. Therefore, FabLabs have been investing in products produced from digital biofabrication, which is based on the concept of circular economy. At the same time, the world is undergoing a constant change and reframing of living standards, in which people seek comfort, well-being and quality to live. In this sense, leisure, work and home environments need acous...

"Making" and the Fourth Industrial Revolution have been extensively investigated in the last few years. Several pieces of research have been carried out on the topic of fab lab networks and makers movements; in many cases, these studies highlighted problems of their economic sustainability, stressing -however- their cultural-related role. Nowadays, it is evident that Makerspaces and Fab Labs do not only produce physical goods, but they also develop knowledge and relationships, which are expre...

The prevailing need to guide human change processes towards environmental, cultural and social sustainability, proposes the duty to act in the generation of favorable conditions for collective life. As designers and social innovators we have an ethical and political responsibility to collaborate in the re-make of human dwelling and its relationship with the environment. Puerto Williams is located in Navarino island, south of Tierra del Fuego, at the end of the supply chain. This area is known...

The usage of auxetic patterns is growing in different industries from aeronautics to fashion. However, the development of these structures in fabrics for garments is still recent and there are few businesses using these technologies to enhance common garments. We propose to test modified fabrics with laser cut of the patterns for improving its elongation properties. Since there are many kinds of fabrics used in the fashion industry, abrasion and elastic recovery were the main features to be c...