NEWSFEATURE NATURE|

Vo
l442|
24Augu
st2006

Makeany
thing
,anywhe
re
Caneve
ryoneu
setechno
logycr
eat
ive
ly?En g
inee
rsa
tth eMas
sachuset
tsIn
sti
tuteo
fTechno
logy
thin
ksoandhave
launched
‘FabLab
s’aroundth
eworldtop
rovei
t.Apoo
rva Mandav
il
lirepo
rts
.

N
eilG ersh en feldh asb een te ach in ga thew orld,eachequipp edw i
ththes amek e
y thisexp erien ce
,h ed ecid edt ost artg oing far
cl assc alled“H ow t om ake( alm os
t) machines.T oday
,therea retenFabL abs— af
ieldg eograph ical
lya sw ell
.
an y thin g”t osom eo fth eb ri ghtest abo v
eth eA rc
ticC i
rcleinN orway,inCo s
ta Hepu tto geth eraco llectiono f indu strial
youn gadu l
t sinth eUn it edS tates Ric
a,IndiaandSou thAfrica —andw i
thinthe machines,includ inga lasercu tter th atm a kes
fory ea rs
.Bu t ittoo kane i ght-ye ar
- oldg irlina nextyear
,fif
teenothersa r
eplanned,ofwhich two -dim en sion alandth r ee-dim ension a
l
sm al
lv illageinGh an atoshow th atan y on e
,an y
- fiv
ew i
llb einAfri
c a
. objec
tsfromnon -m e
talm ater
i a
ls
,av in y
lcu t
t er
wher e
,r e a
llyc anm ake justa bou tan yth in g
. Toge
th er
,thesel
a b
sar eshowingthatg
iving thatcanm a keflexibl
ean tenn as
,amon goth er
On ee venin ginJ un e2 0 0 4— th ed aya fter people
th eabi
li
tytom akethingsfo
rthemselv
es things
,andah igh -
resolutionm ill
in gm achin e
Gersh en feldh ad l eftGh an ah avin gt au gh ta canb ethefast
estw ay
t osolvethe
irprobl
em s
, forcircuitbo ard s
.A l
la rerunb ysim plecom -
week -
lon gv ersiono fh i sclassin th ev il
l ag e— par
ticular
lyincommun i
tieswith
lit
tleacce
ss putersu s
in gop en -
sou r ceso ftw a rew ritten
l
ittleV a
l entin aKwo fi eb egancobb lin gto g e
th e
r toedu ca
tionortechnolo gy
. byM ITs cien tis
ts.Th isk ittod ayco stsa bou t
acircu itbo ard. $25,000;m a
terialsco stano th er
H our sp as sed .S ev er a
ltim esKw ofie’sp ar- Itb egan inBo ston “Th ise igh t
-yea r- $10,000.Th efirs
t la bs,l
i k
e th e
entsstopp edb y th ela bG ersh enf e
ldh ads etup, Ge rsh enf e
ldb e gant each in g c
l as
sth atin spired th em ,w ere
imp lo rin g
,“V alen tin a
, le
t’sg ohom e,l et
’sh a v
e “H owto m a ke( almo st)an y- o ldg irlwasmak ing fundedbytheNSFgran t
.
d
inn er
, let’
sgo tob ed.”Itw a sth efirs
t tim ean y- th in g”atM IT in1 99 8a sp art m ic rocon trol
ler “Techn i calempow erm ent,
onein th evilla ge
,T ak oradi,h adm ad eac ircuit ofanou trea chr equ irem ent c i rcuitboa rdsfo r problem -solvin g
,i n vention —
board :p eop lec rowd eda r ound ,w atch in gh er attach edtoh isc entr e
’sg rant thatw asn’
ta tallth ea gend a
,”h e
n
im ble f
in ge rsm ano eu vr
ep a
rt sh a
lfth esizeo f fr omth eU SN ation alS cien ce t h e love ofit
, f o
rthe sayso fth efirstfew l abs.“Atm y
ag raino frice.F in a
ll y
,lon gp asth erb edtim e
, F ound at
ion(N SF ).Itqu ickly j oyo fdiscove ry
.” end,i
tw asn’
tmu chd eep erthan
shec r af
t edabo ard th atw ork ed. be cam e themo s
tpopu larclass —Ne ilGe r
shen feld cur iosityabou twh atwou ld
Ge rsh enfeld ,d irect orof th eC enter f orB its het au ght.S tud entsw ithno happen.”
andA t om sa tth eM as sachu s e
ttsIn stituteo f prio rte chnic als kil
ls,h es ay s
, Oneo fth eth in gsth a
th a p-
Techno lo gy(M IT ),h adn’tknownwh atto cr ea
t edth e“m ostw ildlye xp ress
i v
eth in gs
”:a p enedw a
s thate achn ew la btoo konach ara c-
exp ectwh enh epu t th efab r
ic at
ion l abo rat ory
, we bb row serf orbo redp arr ots
, forin s
t ance
;a t erofi
tsown . Wh ereasth eM ITs tud entsm ad e
or‘Fa bL ab
’
, te chno lo g ythath ewo r kedw itha t con tain erfors cre am s
;e vena ‘defensibledress’ f anci
fulg adg e
ts,m anyo fth ed evelop ing-wo rld
MIT int oth econ te xto fru ralA f
ri ca
. Wh ath e th atsp r outsw ire swh ensom eon ein vadesits commun itiesseizedth eoppo rtunit yt oimp le-
gotw as insp irati on.“Th ise igh t-year -oldg ir
l we arer’
sp e
rson a
lsp ace. mentpra c
ticalid easthe yalread yh adbu th ad
inGh an aw asm a kin gm i crocon tr o
ll erci rcui
t Watchin gth es tud en ts
’p assionf ort each- no tbeena b
le tor ea
lize.
board s fo rth elo v eo fit,fo rth ejo yo fd isco v- in go the rswh at the yh adle arn ed
,G ershenfeld InGh an a
, fore xam ple,vil
l ager sbu il
tl arge
ery
,”h er ecal
ls.“Th ato rdin aryp eop lec ando i
t to yedw i
th the id eaofs tart
in ga labsom ewh ere ‘ col
lect o
rs’toh arnesssol aren erg yandm ade
andw ant todo itw asv er
ysu rprisin g
.” th atw as farremo ved from M IT initse xpecta- m achine stog rindc assav aint ofufupowd er.
Th eF abL abinwh ichKwo fiem ad eh er tion sabou t t
e chno lo gy.Soh eop enedaF abL ab InP abal
,Ind ia,farm ersc reateds en sors,bas ed
circuith asb e enfo llow edb yo th ersa r ound inw orkin g
-cl assSou thBo st on.H ea rtenedb y onad esignd evelopedb yM ITs taff,t om ea s-

F
abu
lou
sstu
ff
:the
‘fab
rica
tion
labo
rato
rie
s’ha
vebeense
tup
inp
lac
esa
sfa
rapa
rta
s Maha
rash
tra
inInd
ia(
lef
t)andL
yng
eninNo
rwa
y.

862
©2006 Nat
urePubl
ishi
ngGr
oup
NATURE|
Vo
l442|
24Augu
st2006 NEWSFEATURE

ogyR esear
ch intheInt
e r
estsofSo cie
t yatthe
Univer
sityofC a
li
forni
a,B erke
le y
.
Wri
ght te
a che
sac l
asssim i
lartoG ershen-
feld’
s,andh isstudentstooh aveb eenc rea
-
tive —m ak
in g
,am ongoth erthings,ap i
llow
a
l armclo ckthatcanrous ethesleep erwith-
outw akingap ar
tnerorr oomm ate.Bu t
,says
Wr
i gh
t,“n o
te ve
ryonew antstobu ildthin gs
.
Oneh astober e
ali
st
ic.
”M o
r e
likely
,h es a
ys,i
s
thathighschoolsorcommun i
t ygroup sw ou
ld
wantp e
rsonalfabr
ica
tors.

F
romNo
rwa
ytoSou
thA
fr
ica
MITf ieldsa lmo std ai
l yr equ estst obu ildn ew
FabL abs.Th eon esth atm ak eth ecu ta re
in evita b
lyd r
iv enb yp assion ate lo c
alch am pi
-
ons.Th eN orw ay la b,f ore xamp l e
,i s ledb y
Haa konK arlsen,ach arism at
i cch iefh erde r
,
wh oh elp ed itg rowf r omar oom inab arnt o
ab e autiful1 1-bu ild in gF a bV illa geth ath as
had4 ,0 00v isito rss in cei top en edl a sty ea r
.
Th evill ageh assuppo rt fromth eN orw e gian
gov ernm en tand lo calindu strialists
,and iss et
tol aun cha few lo calbu s
in esse s
.
On eo fth en ew estl ab sisinSo shan gu ve
,a
poo r town shipa bou t4 5k ilom etr e
sno rtho f
Pretori a
,and isrunb ya loc a
lg r oup,th eB righ t
YouthCoun ci
l. Wh enth eM ITr ese arch e rs
arriv ed inP retor ia inS ept em ber2 0 0 5
,th ey
found th at theSo sh an gu veg r oupa lre ad yh ad
itsownp rin t
in gc en tr etoh elpcommun ity
mem ber sw ithth eirr esum é s
.Th egr ouph ad
V
alen
tinaKwo
fie
,ele
ctron
icsp
ionee
r. poo led mon eyt obu yacompu t erandtho se
whokn ewhow t ou seit tau ghte v eryon ee lse.
ureth efa
tcon t entinm ilkandh elpth emg e
ta Thisso r
to fequ ipm en t
, mo stlyu sedfo r Con vincedb yth ecoun cil
’sen thu si
asm ,Am y
fai
rp rice.Farm er
s inN orw ayc reatedw irel
ess pro
to typing,isno tn ewandh a
sb ecom estead- Sun ,ag radu a
t es tud en ta tM IT ,s e
tupaF ab
radiost oh e
lp them tracksh e
ep. il
ych e aper
.M os
tv ersionsw o
rkw ithon lyone L abb etw een thep rintin gc entreand th eh ea
lth
Som ela b
sa reon thev ergeo fspinn in gof
f ma
te r
ial,h ow e ver
,soL ipsonando thersare c lini cw ithsuppo rtfr omSou thA fr
i c
a’sD epart-
sm al
lbu siness es
.“F a b
sa renowmo v
in gfrom workin gonp rintersth atc anm akecom pl
e x m en to fS c
i en ceandT echn olo g y
.M an ywh o
exp erim entstob ecom in gseriou stoo lsin ob
je ct
s fromana rrayo fpol ym e
rs.Th e yhave com et oth eclini cs topb you to fcu r
io sity
.
addressingd evelopin gnations
’p r ob
l em s
,”say
s al
re ad ym ades imp lei tem s
, Wh enIv isitedth ela bona
SushilBo rd e
,e xecutivedir e
ct orofth enon- includ ingab attery,fromf ive
prof
itF abF ound a
tion,whoh ash elped launch di
fferentm ate
ri a
ls.
“Thedeepes tfo rm w a
a
r
rma
y
, jus
f
t
tern
tw
oon
ow e
inm
eksa
id
ft
-F
er
e
i
b
th
ru -
ad
FabL absinbo thInd iaandSou thA fric a
. Th eF abL abinP retoria, o fa idyoucang ive op en ed ,itw ash umm in gw ith
“Ir eal
l yfeelth atth ed eep e
stfo rmo faid SouthA f
rica,isth ef
irsttoh ave ac oun tryistoa llow near l y2 0p eop le.A bou tado zen
thaty ouc angi veacoun t ryistoa l
low them to oneo fth esingl e
-po lym er‘3D
des
i gnandm a keth e
irown thin gs,
”s aysH od pr
inters’
,but thego alistom ake
themtodes ignand Y ou
ana
thCoun
vera gea
c
g
ilm
eo f2
em
5
,w
b e
o
r
r
s,w
kth
i
e
th
re
.
Lipson,a m ech anicalae rospaceen gine e
rat moreo fth emfo ro th erF ab m aketh ings
.” Bec au seo fth ed em and, thed ay
CornellUn ive
r s
ityinI thaca,N ewY o
r k
.“Y ou’
re Labs,f orschoo l
sandhom es
. —HodL ip son iso r gani zedin to tw o
-hou rslo t
s
let
tin gth emch oo sewh a
t tom ake.Th a
t’
san “On eo fth eni cethin gsa bout a
ll otted t od if
fe renta geg roup s
am azingem pow erm ent
.” thisp rin teri sth atyouc an —andth atdo esn ’tm e an ju st
makeiten ti
relyinaF abL ab
,so it
’sreallysca
l- bo y sandm en.On ep articipan tw asap r egn ant
Ama
chinetha
tcanmak
ean
yth
ing ab
le,”no tesLip son —a l
thou ghap rinteralone 1 8-y ear-oldh igh -s ch oold ropou t.Ano th e rw as
LipsonandG ershenfe
lda r
ecol
laborat
ingon couldn’tm a keano th erprinter
. a4 0- year- oldh ou sew if ewh oh adn e vers e en
theF ab@hom epr o
jec
t.Th e
ira
im istocrea
te Thes elf-
replicatin gFa bL abhasy ettom at- ac om pu terb ef ore th el abop en edbu t i
sn ow
ach eape
randmo reaccess
ibl
evers
ionofexi
st- er
ialize,butG ershen fe
ldandL ipsond re amof u s
in gon et od esignd eco rat
i vecu t outd esign s.
ingF abLabsbyscal
ingthing
sdown toju
stone thed aysu chp erson a
l fabr
i ca
t o
rsa reascom - P eop lea tth eSo sh an gu ve la bh avem ad ea
machinetha
tcanm akeallsor
tso
fthings
.This mona sap erson alcom pute r
.O thersa renot l i ghtsw itchcon tr o
lledb yac e
llphon e
,amo tion-
machinewil
lfi
llspacewithdrop
let
so fmat
ter sosu re.“ I
t’
sh ardtob elieveth a
te v e
r ybody s en so rligh tandana larms ystem —u seful
asan ink
jetpr
inte
r f
il
lsap ag
ewithdrople
tsof wouldw anton e
,”sa ysP aulW right,chiefsci- d evic esin th em an yun safen eigh bou rh ood sin
colour:aFabL ab
-in-a
-bo x
. ent
ista ttheC enter forInfo rmationT echn o
l- th ea rea.Som ech oice sa resu rp ris
in g.“Th ere
863
©2006 Nat
urePubl
ishi
ngGr
oup
NEWSFEATURE NATURE|
Vo
l442|
24Augu
st2006

arebo ysth er ea t1a .m .s trin gin gb e adscu ton

IS
IEDMAN/CORB
th elasercu tt erandr eallylikin git,
”Suns a ys
.
Alabc anb eupandrunn in gw ithinaw ee k
ofd eli
v ery,bu tth etou ghp a rtish elpin gp eo-

.FR
p
l em ake thin gs.Sunsp end smu cho fh er tim e

R
te achin gph ysi csande lectron icstop eop l
e
withnoknow led g eo fe itherwh odon ’tsp ea k
En gl
ish.“P oin tin gh elp s,
”sh es ays,“ Ishowb y
ex ampl e
.”Inp la cessu cha sSou thA frica,wh ere
th erea re1 1 lan gua g esandas eve ret ea ch e
r
sh ortage, th el a bsr elyh eavil yons tud en tsto
show th en e xts ethow t ou sem achin es
.“Th a
t
tu rnsou t t ob ear eallypow e rfult oo lf orF ab R
ichv
ari
ety
:Ha
akonK
arl
senho
ldsa
rad
io-
tra
ckedsh
eep
,andN
ei
lGe
rsh
enf
eldp
res
ent
spr
e-t
een
res
ear
ch.
La bs
,”sh es ay s
.
Andwh yno t ?Th e re islitt
lpee
rojl
es
cef
ts o
.Burth
te e
as
chel abs t
illco stsa smu ch torun T echno lo giesa tth eUn iver si
t yo fSou th ern
stud ent stodo .In m an yA f r
aic ancoun
sasm allbutsr
i
ines
,
essin th eho stcoun tr y
.So fa r C al
if orni ainLo sAn ge
l es.“Com p et
in gw ith
th erear eno tm an yjo bs forp eop
the l
yhew
av i
th
eb e th es
e
ensuppo r
t edb yam i xtureo ffund s indu str yisab i g
,b igch al
len g e
.”Kh o shn evis
mid -
levels ki
lls.A ton eo fRw and
fr a
’sf
om Mew t
ITe
,chn
lo ci
a-
lg overnm en tsandg r assroo ts s aysth atf o
r th eF abL a bs,“th efocu sshou ldb e
cals choo ls,f ore x am ple,se cond
gr a
ouprsy-l
.Buev e
ls
ta stu
th-enum b ero fl absg row s
,G e r- onedu cationmo reth anan ythin ge l
s e”
.
den ts —a bou ta th irdo fwhoma shenrfe
eoldh
rph ass
antru
so fg g
l ed tocon vin ce t
r adition al Koh shn ev
i sc ana pp re c
iat etheirv alu eb et-
th e1 994g eno cid e —e arna th d
rev
ee
elopm
-ye ardenta
ip g
lomenacies to fin an ce th em. terth anm ost in th eW est
:a san ine -yea r-o ld
in topicssu cha sau t om otivem Hech an
enowh ics,e
a l
sinec
t-erestf r oms e ver a
lp r
i vat e inI r an,h ecou ldn ’taffo rd fanc yto ysandbu il
t
tr onic
so rcon st ru ct
ion .Bu tofdono
th e1rs
0,how
5stud ev
enet
sr
,andi sl aun chin gth eF ab h im selfafou r- s
to r eypo lysty ren ebu ild in g
atth eGit aram as choo lwhog radu
Founda
t ed
at la
ionsty
tomear
,a
t ch th esedono rs tol absand equ ipp edw ithaw orkin ge lev a
t orth es izeo f
sa ysthep r
in cip al,M a rkO ’K an
cooe,on
rd l
iny2
a
t 0h
eth a
egv
e row in gn et- ac iga re
tt ebo x
,com pletew ith
found job s,and8o f tho sea rew
worith th
ksoth es
a choo
te xi l
.
s
tin g la bsc an “W ea rec leve r doo rsand light s
.I fth ereh ad
Schoolo f
fi c
i alsa renow tal k
lin
ea g
rntoRw
f romeand
a an
cho the randn ew p eop lewhe reve rwe beenaFabLabtoteachh im ,h e
comp an iestot r ytot rain mo onr
e eemp
sc anglo
r y ab
owm leor ee asily.I t
’s say s
,h isin ven t
ion scou ldh a ve
stud ents.G er sh en fe
ldh assomalre
eth
adin
ypogsim
ssii
b
llea
r
,h epo in tsou t l ive .Y ouseetha twe ma tch edh i sim agin at
ion .
inm ind .Av irtu alF a bA cad em
en ycou
thu si aldequ
st
i cal
l ip
y
, foraF a bL ab c andoany thing .” Sof arth elabsh avee xc e
lleda t
stud ent sw ithsk illsth atwou to m
ld mak ebu
ak i
ethldin
em gsandfu rni- —HaakonKa rl sen recrea t
in g th eout reache xp eri-
mo reattr activ eto lo calcomp an
tureies,h es
,andso“w ay s
,
e’reat th epo int men tth a
tgo t thems tarted.Th e
pa rt
icula rlyincoun t riesw ithg
ofphrow
ysin
ic gt
a
ll ech
ym -
akin gth el abinaF abL ab,” F abV illageinN orw ayh asb e ensosu ccessfu la t
nolo gyse ctor ssu cha sInd iaandSou
al
thou thA
ghn fr
ewmic a
.
ach in esw ou lds til
lh ave tob e en gagin gth ecommun it yth atth erea rep l an s
Lo calcomp ani esin ter estedinemp
shipp lo
ed y
fe
resw
om Mith
IT. tosta rtoth ersinI celand ,Sw eden,F inlandand
certains killscou lda lsospon so ra la b
.Ah and - Russia.Th e
l ab inGh ana issim ilarlyset toh elp
fulo fcom pan ies, includ in gH Intobu
on eyw es
in
l e
lIndss
i a
’s laun ch labsinK en y aandRw and a.
trainin gc ent rea tM adu raiinTAf
tam
e i
rmulN adu
chd ,and
ebat e
, theF a bL a bsh a veto geth er Th ereismo r eto thissto ryth anph ilanth r op y
,
Neu ronB ioo fPun e,M ah arashdt
er
c a,a
id ed ren
tha e
tang o
yt
i-
thin gm ad einon ela bshou ld thou gh :theinno v a
t orye cho e
so fth eou tr ea ch
atingsuppo rtf orn ew l absth ebre
ea.vailable toth eo th ers.In thisw ay,th efo cu s p rojecth aveboun cedb a ck toM IT.A gain , it
Ra
i s
in gfund s tom a
in tain thie
sl
la
esbsw
son illb
int e
e
lth
lece
tu alp rop e rty —wh ich ish ard w asane i ght-ye ar-oldg irlwhoshow ed th ew ay:
pr o
je c
t
’sb i ggest te s
t.In fr as
tru c
ttu
op r
rech
oteca
tllen
inm ges
an yd evelop in gn ation s —and G ersh enfeld’sd au ghter,G race.L asty earG er-
oc curate ver yl ev el
,s a ysSun ,
mof
rromr
eon m ent
ain
kinga
gth ebu sin es sm od e
lsu itth e sh en feldw asshow in gh erhowt ou sea las er
tru ckt om ove th em ach ine sandk
peop l e
edoepin
in g
gththe
ew ork,th e in ven tionandth e cu tter in theM IT lab,bu tG ra ceth ou gh t th e
la bssto c kedw ithcon sum a b
ll
ae
b’
ss
,toen
lo cat su
ion rin
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864
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