How Enrolling in Fab Academy

What is Fab Academy?

Fab Academy is an intensive six-month program that teaches students how to conceptualize, design, and prototype projects using digital fabrication tools and machines.
The program is hosted by Professor Neil Gershenfeld of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and approximately 200 students from Fab Labs around the world participate each year. They learn various techniques for making things, including 2D/3D CAD, 3D printing, laser cutting, CNC machining for cutting wood and circuit boards, electronics, programming, molding, and more.
Fab Academy offers a decentralized education model, where students learn in local workgroups with peers and instructors, while connecting with the global community through shared content and online lectures.

Lectures: Weekly lectures, held every Wednesday, are the core of the course.
First 90 minutes: Presentation of the previous week's assignments (students present what they worked on in English)
Second 90 minutes: Lecture for the current week
Assignments: Students use digital fabrication machines at Fab Labs to complete their assignments and update the documentation on their personal websites.
Final Project: Based on their own ideas, students take on the challenge of designing and creating a prototype that doesn’t exist in the world, integrating the skills they learned over the six months. This is (mostly) done independently and presented in the final presentation.
Language: English only

You will confirm the program after the schedule for the year of enrollment is released.
Although there are minor changes every year, the following is a the reference.

From late January to early June: Weekly lectures & assignment production/documentation
From late June to around July: Final project presentation

Cost: 5,000 USD (United States Dollars)
- For more details, refer to Fab Academy Tuition Fee
- For those who wish to apply for scholarships

Contact us through our Contact Form.
Based on the content of your inquiry through contact form, we will provide you with a tour of Fab Lab West harima, followed by an information session and interview, either offline or online.
Once you and we have decided to attend a course at Fab Lab West harima, you will be asked to register for the course at Fab Academy's STUDENTS REGISTRATION.(Attention: Fab Lab/Node -> "West-harima".)

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Fab Lab West harima accepts applications until the Student Application submission deadline. For any inquiries after the deadline, please contact us.

For those enrolling at Fab Lab West harima, we will hold a free Boot Camp prior to the start of the program in January. This will help reduce the burden during the actual course by adjusting to the student's skill level in advance.
Instruction on the operation of machines and software used in the course
Consultations in preparation for the final project

Basic equipment and materials required for Fab Academy lectures and assignments will be provided by the lab.
For the final project, any additional materials may be at the student’s expense, depending on the situation.