MIT Center for Bits & Atoms and the Fab Foundation Bring Fab11 Digital Fabrication Event Back to Boston
Cambridge MA (PRWEB) July 10, 2015 -- The MIT Center for Bits and Atoms and the Fab Foundation are pleased to announce that Fab11, the 11th Annual Meeting of the global Fab Lab community, will return to the Boston area from August 3 to 9, 2015. The meeting that features digital fabrication technologies from laser cutting to 3D Printing comprises the annual conference of the international Fab Lab Network, a symposium Making : Impact that is open to the public, and a 2-day public FabFest distributed throughout Boston, Cambridge and Somerville.
International Fab Lab Network members from more than 500 labs in over 60 countries are gathering in Cambridge at MIT, the birthplace of the Fab Lab concept. Fab11 will explore how the ability to "Make (almost) Anything" utilizing Digital Fabrication tools is impacting individuals, communities, businesses and collaborative research and projects around the world. At Fab11, members will share technical expertise, best practices, and the powerful stories behind Professor Neil Gershenfeld's statement "The power of Digital Fabrication is social, not technical".
Drawing from over a decade of field experience, Fabbers are creating an interactive Fab11 program that includes hands-on fabrication workshops, talks, planning meetings, project demonstrations, Fab Academy graduation, Global Fab Awards, a Fab Youth track, as well as informal opportunities to connect, fabricate and celebrate.
The Fab Symposium Making : Impact will take place August 6th at Boston's famed Symphony Hall. It is a one-day, public event that explores the principles, applications and implications of digital fabrication. This year our focus will be on the incredible makers who have emerged from fab labs and digital fabrication education over the last 12+ years, who have made significant social, economic and community impact in the world and who are inventing the future. Speakers include visionaries from leading technology companies including Uber, Google, Samsung and Facebook.
Over the weekend of August 8 and 9 the cities of Boston, Cambridge and Somerville will come alive with a free public Fab Festival. The main event of FabFest will be held at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, while a myriad of distributed events, produced by City Awake to celebrate Fab11, will happen throughout the region. The Fab Festival is a celebration of making, creativity and social impact on the world. The weekend includes exhibitions, demonstrations, cool performances, hands-on activities for the whole family, and talks and panels featuring great makers from the Boston area and beyond. For example, attendees at FabFest Boston will be able to see how designers from Barcelona can light up their clothes, try their hand at building a laser cutter, make insect robots with students from rural India, and have a 3D Model of their face 3D Printed.
"We're excited to welcome Fab11 to the Boston area this year," said Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh. "In Boston, we're working with our partners in Cambridge, Somerville, and throughout the region on expanding maker space so the great ideas that are born here can be brought to market here as well. Congratulations to the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms and the Fab Foundation for their tremendous work and their incredible contributions to the maker community.”
No event of this scope is possible without the generosity of sponsors. Chevron, who has contributed $10 million to the Fab Foundation in order to bring new Fab Labs online specifically for STEM education programs, has also made a major contribution to Fab11 to support operations and logistics. Other sponsors include SOLIDWORKS, who are also long-term supporters of the network, Roland, Epilog Laser, Ultimaker, Mathworks, Trotec, GCC and FormLabs. New sponsorships are being added on a daily basis and will be listed on the Fab11 website.
For complete program details, registration for the Symposium, and opportunities to volunteer, participate in the Fab Festival or serve as a sponsor, go to http://www.fab11.org.
Sarah Boisvert, FabLab Hub, http://www.FabLabHub.org, +1 301-908-6726, [email protected]
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