Introducing Engineering Students to Manufacturing in a Fabrication Laboratory (Fab Lab)

Engineering students most often do not have the opportunity to make a physical prototype of the designs they make on paper or computer. Since 2010, a Fab Lab (Fabrication Laboratory) has been established in Leuven, offering students this extra functionality. A Fab Lab is equipped with several non-conventional manufacturing machines, such as 3D printers, laser cutters, NC milling machine, etc. Many Fab Labs have emerged around the World since the concept was first introduced by Neil Gershenfeld at MIT in 2001[4,5]. In general Fab Labs are intended for the general public and for the social economy, for students and businesses. This paper presents briefly the Fab Lab experience and how it was introduced in the engineering education programs of K.U.Leuven and Group T Leuven Engineering College. The problems which occurred are described and the implementation of e-learning modules is emphasized. These e-learning modules aim at enhancing the Fab Lab users’ prior knowledge of the available equipment in order to improve their designs and prototypes from a manufacturability point of view. The modules need to be used by students in engineering, architecture, or product design, as well as by high school scholars and the general public. Master students in ICT engineering were given the task to design and program a generic website enabling the creation of learning modules with multiple choice questions, movies, picture, etc. Teachers and Fab Lab staff members acted as clients for this assignment. The results of a survey among ca. 100 students on the usability, content, structure and user friendliness of the e-learning modules are listed. Finally, the impact of the e-learning modules on the quality of the students’ designs is assessed.

ISBN:978-2-87352-004-5

Jaar van publicatie:2011

Toegankelijkheid:Closed