About

What is a Fablab?

Fablab Groningen is part of a global community of Fablabs. The name is a contraction of Fabrication Laboratory.

Philosophy

A Fablab is a digital workshop accessible to everyone, where people are encouraged to make things themselves using different techniques. We also encourage the open sharing of designs and ideas. In other words, a Fablab is an accessible workshop where users can use a number of computer-controlled prototyping machines to turn their ideas into tangible products.

Basically, a Fablab has a laser cutter, CNC router, 3D printer, foil cutter and an electronics corner. An important feature of Fablabs is that they share knowledge among themselves. They are often breeding grounds for innovation.

Origins

The spiritual father of the Fablabs is Prof. Dr. Neil Gershenfeld of the Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He once taught a semester of "How to make (almost) anything," for which he established a lab for digital fabrication. This was so successful and attracted so much attention that more Fablabs were created following this model. The global community now consists of more than 600 Fablabs, 49 of which are in the Netherlands (as of December 2019). To call yourself a Fablab, you must agree to the Fab Charter. Fablab is a community, not a franchise.

Fablab Groningen

In 2010, Fablab Groningen was founded by Bart Kempinga, Peter Groen (both entrepreneurs) and Thuur Caris (higher education teacher). Fablab Groningen's first location was Het Paleis on Boterdiep. From 2014 to 2020 we could be found in the Launchcafé. Since September 2020, we have been housed in office complex Het Kwadraat. There, together with game developer hub Indietopia, we run the living lab 'Prototopia - powered by Fablab'. Start-ups, artists and hobbyists can go there to make prototypes and products using our machines.

Fablab Groningen is part of the community Fablab BeNeLux. This is the overarching organization of all Fablabs within the Benelux. Each Fablab has full autonomy over its policy, as long as the guidelines in the Fab Charter are followed.

Vision

Fablab Groningen specifically stands for development, of both its environment and itself, and for open innovation, just like other Fablabs.

Fablab Groningen wants to be the lab of the Northern Netherlands for everyone who wants to do more with making things. Where making itself is further developed. Where one tries out connections with new parties, cross-sectorally, or passes them on to other parties for cross-pollination.

Fablab Groningen is the development lab for making opportunities.

Mission

Fablab Groningen is an independent lab for experiments in making. Fablab Groningen is a foundation that seeks to promote knowledge sharing and self-development. The lab does this practically through four pillars:

(1) open walk-in

(2) education

(3) entrepreneurship

(4) research