3DEXPERIENCE Lab at Waltham, together with SOLIDWORKS, hosted the annual Fab Foundation mega-event, called Fab16, last week. The event had a hybrid format, with physical hubs in montreal and Boston, and a virtual component that was live streamed across the world. There were over 1500 registrants and 6000 virtual attendees of the week-long event.
Celebrating the close relationship between Dassault Systemes and MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA), we had the pleasure of hosting Prof. Neil Gershenfeld, Director for MIT CBA, Sherry Lassiter, CEO and President of The Fab Foundation and Luciano Betoldi, Director of Operations at The Fab Foundation, in our Waltham Lab for Day 1 deliberations of Fab16 on August 9, 2021.
Day 1 Proceedings with Prof. Neil Gershenfeld and Sherry Lassiter - LIVE from 3DEXPERIENCE Lab Boston
During the Announcements phase of Day 1, @MP, Senior Director of Early Engagement and Education, 3DEXPERIENCE Works, announced the availability of the much awaited 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS for Makers offer.
Fabacademy/ Fabricademy Graduation from Town Hall
Fabacademy/ Fabricademy Graduation 2021 were LIVE-streamed from Dassault Systemés SOLIDWORKS campus (Town Hall). Prof. Neil Gershenfeld moderated the ceremony. Dassault Systemés SOLIDWORKS has sponsored over 20 scholarships to students of Fab Academy and Fabricademy in the past few years, and these students have pursued fantastic projects in the 3DEXPERIENCE Lab in Waltham.
It was a one of a kind opportunity for these students to be in the Lab again and meet Dr. Gershenfeld in person. This year, four Fab Academy and two Fabricademy students successfully graduated from 3DEXPERIENCE Lab Waltham node: Xialoin (Linda) Zhen, Jonathan Cherry, Nicholas Anastasia and Griffin van Horne, Kate Reed and Tania Velasquez. These students were duly supported and mentored for six months by Academany instructors – Greg Buckland, Spencer Mewherter, Oye Ajewole and Luciano Betoldi.
Prof. Neil Gershenfeld talking to graduates worldwide
Boston local graduates of Fabacademy and Fabricademy
Live Interaction with over 100 labs from across the globe
Craig Therrien, 3DEXPERIENCE Works Roles Portfolio Manager, during Sponsor Session
Kate Reed talking about 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS for Makers Offer and responding to questions
Two hands-on workshops and one Theoretical workshop was run in parallel at the 3DEXPERIENCE Lab from 2.30pm to 4.30pm ET, on the same day, inviting local makers to participate in person.
All through the event, SOLIDWORKS and 3DEXPERIENCE Lab facilitated a total of five workshops to the Fab16 online programming, including:
- Creating a fun learning experience with SOLIDWORKS Apps for Kids Classroom, by @CL from SOLIDWORKS and Aidan Mullaney from The Fab Foundation
- 3D Modeling and Design with Jason Pohl, by Jason Pohl and @JB
- Learn to Use & Fit the LN4 Prosthetic Hand upon Amputees (provided to recipients at no cost), by Michael Mendonca from The Ellen Meadows Prosthetic Hand Foundation (EMPHF) and @JT from SOLIDWORKS
- What IF We could make a DIY fully autonomous R2-D2?, by Robert Jackson from OpenR2 Project
- Beyond Biomimicry, with Kate Reed – Biomimetic Designer and Fabricademy’21 graduate
Thanks to @SL @TT and @BH for driving 3DEPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS for Makers project which was referenced in these workshops.
Reception at New EBC
The day ended with a reception in which we showcased SOLIDWORKS and 3DEXPERIENCE Lab's commitment to makers by bringing out inspiring stories of makers from across the world on 14 screens in the new EBC/ 3DEXPERIENCE Customer Center, located next to the Lab.
@CT spoke about What's New at SOLIDWORKS, and @SL demonstrated a unique workflow together with Prof. Gershenfeld. @MK was present during the Reception and answered questions from the curious audience. Food and Drinks followed.
Prof. Neil Gershenfeld talking about MIT's relationship with Dassault Systemes
FAB16 Challenge: Stop.Reboot.Learn
On Thursday, we announced winners of FAB16 Challenge SOLIDWORKS and 3DEXPERIENCE Lab sponsored this year. We invited participants to 'Think big and envision new ways of fab teaching and learning over the next decade.' We called it the Stop.Reboot.Learn #FAB16 Montréal Challenge
We were overwhelmed by the innovativeness exhibited by the entrants of the challenge, and had a tough time narrowing it down to the Top 2 winners, who won scholarship to Fab Academy / Fabricademy
Winners are:
Isabel Allaert from Ghent, Belgium for Learning tools for children with Autism.
This topic is very close to the heart of SOLIDWORKS and 3DEXPERIENCE Lab. In fact, one of the first startups that 3DEXPERIENCE Lab Boston selected for acceleration was LEKA, a toy robot for kids with exceptional abilities. We, as a company, believe that ‘The Only Progress is Human’, and are aligned with the vision of the team behind this amazing project.
Ricky Bongani Masuku from Zimbabwe for Project Roko that aims to affordable open source water pumping mechanism that can be put together by a community
Dassault Systemes has been named as one of the Most Sustainable Companies in the world for years in a row. In December 2020, Dassault Systemes Global CEO and Vice Chairman, Bernard Charles, announced ‘Water for Life’ initiative as a cornerstone of Dassault Systemes’s commitment to Sustainability. Project Roko resonates with the company’s vision for a future built on sustainable innovation.
FabFestival in Somerville
The 7-day Fab16 ended with a FabFestival event in Somerville, MA and Montreal, Canada. You may watch the recorded Facebook Live edition here. It's a private link and will take you to Fab Foundation's Facebook Account.
Boston Dynamics robots displaying their quadrupled dexterity during fab Festival on August 15
Boston Dynamics robots had a nice time dancing, propping and trotting across the venue
Without the support of @JS @JP @SH this event in the Lab could not have been possible. Thanks for your invaluable help!
Special Thanks to @RG @AD and @TL @RM for their support that helped set the ball rolling!
Thanks to @GB @SJ @FV for your leadership and direction for shaping this event.