Making Ideas at Scientific Fabrication Laboratories
Carlo Fonda, Enrique Canessa
TL;DR
This paper discusses the establishment and use of Scientific Fabrication Laboratories (FabLabs) within academic settings to foster creativity, support physics and math education, and promote community development through accessible digital prototyping tools.
Contribution
It presents a case study of the ICTP Scientific FabLab in Trieste and advocates for the global replication of such multi-purpose laboratories in academia.
Findings
Successful setup of the ICTP Scientific FabLab.
Concrete examples of physics research applications.
Proposal for worldwide replication of FabLabs in academia.
Abstract
Creativity, together with the making of ideas into fruition, is essential for progress. Today the evolution from an idea to its application can be facilitated by the implementation of Fabrication Laboratories, or FabLabs, having affordable digital tools for prototyping. FabLabs aiming at scientific research and invention are now starting to be established inside Universities, Research Centers and Schools. We review the setting up of the ICTP Scientific FabLab in Trieste, Italy, give concrete examples on the use in physics, and propose to replicate world-wide this class of multi-purpose workplaces within academia as a support for physics and math education and for community development.
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