INTRODUCTION

The Postgraduate Diploma in Fab Academy BCN: Applications and Implications of Digital Fabrication is the local chapter of the Distributed Digital Fabrication program directed by Neil Gershenfeld of MIT’s Center For Bits and Atoms and based on MIT’s rapid prototyping course: How to Make (Almost) Anything. Fab Academy focuses on personal fabrication – prototyping your ideas into products.

The distributed educational experience and the FLB learning methodologies applied in this course ensure that students will not only get the technical skills needed to design and prototype but also a set of soft skills like problem-solving, collaboration, integration and sustainability, much needed in today’s work market, and a key aspect in becoming productive citizens, making local change for global impact. 

Fab Academy provides a set of skills and tools that will help you to translate ideas into prototypes, and prototypes into products. 

After Fab Academy, students not only get jobs, they also invent new roles, new practices and new products!

Applications are open until the 20th of December, 2024 to enter in the academic year 2025-26!

Apply Now!

Fab Academy
Degree Postgraduate in Fab Academy BCN: Applications and Implications of Digital Fabrication accredited by University of Lleida (UdL) – European Higher Education Area (EHEA)
Edition 15th edition
Credits 45 ECTS
Duration 22th January 2025 — 15th June 2025 (5 months)
Campus Fab Lab Barcelona @IAAC 
Language ​English
Tuition Fee 7.500€
Admissions Students, professionals, lifelong learners with backgrounds from all kinds of disciplines (designers, engineers, architects, artists, etc) looking for new approaches or to broaden the scope of their practice. In order to get the ECTS, students must present a Bachelor or higher degree

DISTRIBUTED EDUCATION: The global classroom

Fab Academy consists of both classes online and offline, a method which we call “distributed education“. Students work on two levels – global and local. The global level, otherwise known as the Global Campus, connects +250 students enrolled in Fab Academy every year in more than 50 cities worldwide. The students connect weekly for Global Lectures with Professor Neil Gershenfeld. After every Global Lecture, in which Prof. Gershenfeld explains the content and lays out the assignment for the week, there is a round of reviews that opens the possibility for students to interact with the rest of the global community.

The Fab Academy program is based on MIT’s popular rapid-prototyping course ‘How To Make (Almost) Anything – both courses are taught by Prof. Neil Gershenfeld. The Fab Academy Diploma is awarded by the Fab Academy community with the support of the Fab Lab Network and Fab Foundation. 

Fab Lab Barcelona offers students the possibility to access 45 ECTS European Credits granted by the University of Lleida – European Higher Education Area (EHEA).

A (local) Digital Fabrication playground

Once enrolled in Fab Academy you will learn how to use the Fab Lab’s digital fabrication tools, machines and skills such as Project management, Computer design, Computer-controlled cutting, Electronics, 3D scanning and printing, Electronics design, Computer-controlled machining, Embedded programming, Molding and casting, Networking and communications, Mechanical design, Interface and application programming and Machine design. In addition to the Global Lectures, there are two days each week where you will receive specific support for your project and have access to Fab Lab Barcelona’s workshop and digital fabrication equipment.

Why study Fab Academy in Barcelona?

Over more than ten years of experience in teaching the course, Fab Lab Barcelona has become a global benchmark for the Fab Academy experience. Students come from every continent to study at Fab Lab Barcelona. 

Future of Education specialist and Fab Academy Barcelona alum Santi Fuentemilla leads the Learning Methodologies across all our Programs, supported by multidisciplinary experts in digital fabrication, robotics, machine learning, coding and materials. 

Fab Lab Barcelona is part of IAAC, the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalunya, a community of extraordinary students and staff from more than 70 different countries. Students at Fab Lab Barcelona study in a professional lab environment subject to multiple interactions between professionals and colleagues, expanding their worldview and professional networks. In addition, the course is delivered in collaboration with students from the IAAC Master of Design for Emergent Futures which provides an opportunity to expand professional and personal experiences.

ACADEMIC STRUCTURE

The Schedule:

The classes run from Monday to Friday, from Mid-January until June.

Each week, during the Skills Seminars, students will be expected to complete a different topic fully documented. The knowledge learned will contribute towards the development of the final Personal Project.

In addition to the Global Lectures, which take place every Wednesday, there are two days each week where you will receive specific support for your project and have access to Fab Lab Barcelona’s workshop and digital fabrication equipment.

The Program:

Skills Seminars

The Postgraduate “Fab Academy BCN: Applications and Implications of Digital Fabrication” comprises 20 week-long intensive seminars that introduce students to the main aspects of Digital Manufacturing, and its implications in the design and prototyping of projects.

Personal Project Development

The last phase of the program capitalises on all the learning acquired to develop a mature personal project. Participants focus on individual in-depth applied project research, employing critical thinking, hard and soft skills for the development of innovative solutions that explore and implement more viable, sustainable and fair alternative systems of today.

Competences

 

 

Digital Essentials (Tools)
Fabrication & Production (Processes)
Interactions & Communications (Protocols)
Infrastructure & Scales (strategies)
Principles and Practices, project management

Computer-Aided Design

Computer-controlled cutting (Design&CAM)

Electronic Production (Design&CAM)

3D Scanning and printing (Design&CAM)

Electronic design

Computer controlled machining (Design&CAM)

Embedded Programming

Molding and Casting

Output devices

Mechanical Design, machine design

Input devices

Networking and communications

Interface & application programming

Wild card week

Applications and implications

Invention, intellectual property and income

Project development (Final Thesis)

STUDENT PROFILE

Who can Join?

Engineers, Architects, Designers of all kinds that want to deep-dive into the possibilities of designs becoming prototypes; People from all backgrounds (arts, social sciences, etc) that want to reflect on the impact of making through the act of making; Professionals from different experiences that want to refresh their knowledge or simply take a turn towards making. 

Everyone is welcome! There is no specific academic requirement to enrol in Fab Academy. 

Professional Opportunities

Fab Academy Alumni have used their learned skills to build leading roles in the global Fab Lab network, established their own design studios and become entrepreneurs in the innovation and social design fields.

This skill set will open the possibility to join innovation teams looking for profiles capable of fast prototyping ideas, or thinking creative solutions for products and services. You will have the capacity not only to prototype but to have a critical approach on the design and fabrication processes, and the impulse to continuously and autonomously learn new ways to approach them.

Either if you are looking for the right skills to bring into life your personal project or to joining the job market, Fab Academy is for you!

PARTNERS

APPLY

Admission Requirements

Students aiming to get ECTS certification must also provide the following documentation during the course of the program (it is not necessary to have them at the time of the Application):

  1. Legalized copy of your previous academic degree. (Please make sure to arrange the legalization of your diploma as required by your country of origin (more info here).
  2. An Official Translation of your legalized diploma (first you must legalize it, THEN, translate all to Spanish) to Spanish language (if not in Spanish already). Your diploma must be translated by an official sworn translator duly registered by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. List of authorized translators here.
  3. A copy of your valid passport, or I.D. if you are a citizen of a member state of the EU

STUDENTS LIFE

Openness, Collaboration, and Accessibility: The Guiding Principles of Fab Academy

Fab Academy is committed to documenting and sharing knowledge, fostering a culture of creativity, collaboration, and hands-on exploration.

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Fab Academy Alumni: Exploring a Postgraduate Journey

Fab Academy Alumni, Aurel Richard, shares insights from his 5-month Postgraduate at Fab Lab Barcelona.

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How diverse backgrounds and experiences enriches the Postgraduate Fab Academy

Each edition of the Fab Academy have a diverse environment that enrich the experience of all the participants and enable them to benefit from a broad variety of perspectives and talents.

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