FabLabWag Meeting 0

From NURDspace
FabLabWag Meeting 0
Name FabLabWag Meeting 0
Date 2012/11/16
DateEnd
Location Binnenhaven 7
Contact burp
Attendees

So, we went to this FabLabWag meeting today. It was organised as part of a series of lectures by the Vereniging van Wageningse Beroepskunstenaars on various subjects. The main part of the evening was a lecture by Harmen Zijp, co-founder of FabLab Amersfoort. He explained how they founded their FabLab. They deviated from the concept of FabLabs by starting with a very low budget and as little organisation as possible.

In Wageningen there has been some effort to start a FabLab, mainly initiated by Bram Damman. He has arranged a location of 60 m2 in the Nieuwland BV building behind Unitas which can be used for this purpose. This space does not require rent to be paid. Though to adhere to the FabLab concept a couple of machines ought to be bought:

  • 3d printer
  • Laser cutter
  • Milling machine
  • Misc. other stuff

Unlike a hacker space the specific purpose of a FabLab is to make physical things, so this is probably a starting requirement.

As a legal form there is already a "stichting" and a board of which Bram is chairman, but this is only pro-forma until a new group is formed that is willing to continue setting up the FabLab. Bram has plans to move abroad, so he will only be available for passing on what he has achieved so far.

At the end of the evening there were 2 paper lists on which people could put their e-mail address if they wanted to be informed of progress or if they wanted to participate in the process of starting up the FabLab. By the way things are looking now, NURDspace could be of great use in the process. There was mentioning of setting up a mailinglist, taking over the hosting of the website, redesigning the website, and possibly also doing a lot of lab management.

We aspire to go to the next 'roundtable' meeting with all the active people that came from this meeting. For this purpose it would be useful to have a "standpoint" on how we want to relate to the FabLab, both in the process of setting it up and once it's up and running.

Things to consider:

  • The space is rent-free
  • The space is on top of the hill
  • The space is bigger than the one we have now
  • People that may have become intersted now come from an art-background, which may skew their angle
  • The concept of a FabLab is different from that of a hackerspace

Edit: This evening has resulted in a more constructive meeting on december 12th 2012.