AZ visit to Fablab: where everyone in Munich can get creative

Schwanthalerhohe – Of course, the lock system on the door itself is built in and of course sometimes causes problems. To enter, fablab members have to call a specific phone number and enter a code. The system recognizes the number you are calling from and opens the door. At least: mostly.

When technology does not rotate. He recently broke down again and then the course instructor suddenly stood in front of the door on the way back from the next room and couldn’t get in anymore. But Fablab members take it with a good sense of humor. This is the case with things that she makes herself.

There is also a scanning electron microscope in fablab. All devices can be used for a membership fee.

By Bernd Wackerbauer

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At fablab Munich, everything is built in-house: with 3D printers or laser cutters

And in FabLab Munich, almost everything is handmade: the display board, on which you can read in real time when the next subway arrives at Heimeranplatz.

The illuminated sign in the workshop that flashes the word “Busy” in letters when someone slams the toilet door in the next room. and even a 3D printer, which prints metal instead of plastic, and was recently temporarily housed in an exhibition at the Deutsches Museum.

Fablab at Westend: A mathematician had the idea

Located in the Westend industrial park on Gollierstrasse, Fablab is a playground for nerds and hobbyists. Its concept goes back to mathematician Niels Gershenfeld. In the early 2000s, he set up a workshop for his students at MIT that was outfitted with several computer-controlled machines for production.

“Tasneeh Factory”, for short: fablab. The idea of ​​transforming modern production processes from large factory halls into small workshops and making them more accessible to the general public was welcomed. There are now more than 1,500 of these manufacturing industries in more than 100 countries.

One of the laser cutters: especially popular with inventors.

By Bernd Wackerbauer

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Students work on their ideas to start their own business here

Fablab on Gollierstraße is one of them. It meets computer scientists there who want to 3D print components of their Raspberry Pis; Tech nerds who need a laser cutter for a gift idea and students working on prototypes of their startup ideas.

For a monthly membership fee, they can use Fablab hardware for their own projects. For example, a laser cutting machine, a CNC milling machine, and a scanning electron microscope.

Fablab Munich: Do, Learn, Share

“The laser cutter is definitely the most popular,” says Birgit Kahler. “When we got that, our membership skyrocketed.”

Birgit Kahler works for Fablab Munich and has been involved in creating the Open Workshop since day one. The idea to open a “manufacturing plant” in Munich came from her husband.

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“At some point he just didn’t feel like messing around in the basement anymore,” says Kahler. Then he read about Gershenfeld’s idea and decided: I’ll do it too!

No longer messing around alone in the basement, but sharing the machines and your knowledge with others: this is the most basic principle of “Fablabs”. Or in the words of the Munich branch: “Make, learn, share.”

Children must also learn how to properly use technology in the factory

Birgit Kahler applies this principle in a slightly different way: she shares with schoolchildren her knowledge of how to use machines correctly. About 125 students come to Fab Lab with their classes every week. There they learn how to use a 3D printer, build board games with a laser cutting machine and program robots. “Fablab-Kids” is the name of the software behind it.

“For me, it’s important for kids to start having access to technology as early as possible,” says Kahler. “Often young people come to us at school and then get stuck.” They stick, which means they keep coming back.

Munich: Anyone can participate in Fablab for a fee

The concept of an “open workshop” for children and young people provides space for this. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, young people between the ages of 5 and 16 can work together on their own projects.

Anyone wishing to take part in the open workshop can register with Fablab Munich. Educational events for adults who want to get to know the association and its rooms are also posted on the association’s homepage at fablab-muenchen.de.