fablab@aup.ac.uk
Skills Support for the Workforce
Skills Support for the Workforce
Skills Support for the Workforce
Skills Support for the Workforce
Skills Support for the Workforce
Skills Support for the Workforce
Projects

Skills Support for the Workforce

Our Skills Support for the Workforce project invited businesses, artists and small traders into our Fab Lab to take part in a course that trained them how to use the kit and then how to adapt it to their practice.

The Skills Support for the Workforce project was an intensive 6 day course aimed at businesses and craft practitioners. Participants were introduced to all the different approaches to designing and making that Fab Lab South West has to offer. This included computer aided design using Rhino 3D and Illustrator, using the laser cutter, working with the different types of 3D printers that we have and subtractive modelling using CNC (Computer Numerical Control) milling. The course provided the skills needed to unlock the potential of digital fabrication for a variety of different ideas, products and projects.

As well as getting makers up to speed with the latest digital tools our dedicated team of specialists helped with the development and refinement of individually focussed work. With the help of expert guidance those on the course achieved outstanding results that changed the way they thought about designing and making for ever, but don’t take our word for it - see what previous participants have said about the course...

"The FabLab has been an extraordinary experience, I have learnt so much from Ian and my fellow students on our recent short course. I can't wait to use the facilities on offer at the FabLab in our product development at Dartington Crystal."

— Emma Irvine, Design Technician at Dartington Crystal (Torrington) Ltd

"It has opened up doors to new ways of thinking about projects that I have had on hold for many years. Now I can use scanning and printing of delicate objects instead of moulding and develop this into my bronze casting work. It feels great to see that the info learnt in just six sessions has opened up such possibilities."

— Luke Shepherd, Portrait Sculptor
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Skills Support for the Workforce Skills Support for the Workforce

Skills Sup­port for the Workforce

Our Skills Sup­port for the Work­force project invit­ed busi­ness­es, artists and small traders into our Fab Lab to take part in a course that trained them how to use the kit and then how to adapt it to their practice.
The Environmental Futures and Big Data Impact Lab The Environmental Futures and Big Data Impact Lab

The Envi­ron­men­tal Futures and Big Data Impact Lab

The Envi­ron­men­tal Futures and Big Data Impact Lab is a part­ner­ship of sev­en Devon-based organ­i­sa­tions, work­ing togeth­er to help busi­ness­es analyse data to cre­ate new prod­ucts and ser­vices, focus­ing on safe­guard­ing the environment.
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Ashnihilation: augmented reality for ecological storytelling Ashnihilation: augmented reality for ecological storytelling

Ash­ni­hi­la­tion: aug­ment­ed real­i­ty for eco­log­i­cal storytelling

An aug­ment­ed real­i­ty art­work by Dr Tom Milnes, co-cre­at­ed with stu­dents and sup­port­ed by Fab Lab South West 3D scan­ning, that engaged the pub­lic with ash dieback through sev­en twi­light per­for­mances on Ply­mouth Hoe, Devon, and mobile AR access city-wide.
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Smart Citizens Programme Smart Citizens Programme

Smart Cit­i­zens Programme

The Smart Cit­i­zens Pro­gramme is open­ing Fab Lab South West to com­mu­ni­ties. We’re sup­port­ing cit­i­zens in devel­op­ing skills to design and make their own objects, prod­ucts and art­work using dig­i­tal fabrication.
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Barnaby’s Brewhouse: capturing CO₂ for a circular brewing economy Barnaby’s Brewhouse: capturing CO₂ for a circular brewing economy

Barnaby’s Brew­house: cap­tur­ing CO₂ for a cir­cu­lar brew­ing economy

Devon-based Barnaby’s Brew­house worked with Fab Lab South West to design and pro­to­type a sys­tem that cap­tures and puri­fies CO₂ from beer fer­men­ta­tion. The inno­va­tion reduces reliance on fos­sil fuel-derived CO₂, cuts costs, and opens new pos­si­bil­i­ties for reuse in food and agriculture.
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Agrikinetics: turning miscanthus grass into sustainable packaging Agrikinetics: turning miscanthus grass into sustainable packaging

Agri­ki­net­ics: turn­ing mis­cant­hus grass into sus­tain­able packaging

Fab Lab South West worked with Dorset-based Agri­ki­net­ics to test whether mis­cant­hus grass pulp could replace import­ed paper and card in pack­ag­ing. The project proved the con­cept, pro­duc­ing moulds for fruit car­tons and sup­port­ing a grant to scale local production.
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SageTech: recycling anaesthetic gases to cut emissions in healthcare SageTech: recycling anaesthetic gases to cut emissions in healthcare

SageTech: recy­cling anaes­thet­ic gas­es to cut emis­sions in healthcare

SageTech part­nered with Fab Lab South West to pro­to­type com­po­nents for an anaes­thet­ic gas cap­ture and recy­cling sys­tem — accel­er­at­ing R&D from con­cept to pilot and sup­port­ing a low­er-car­bon future for oper­at­ing theatres.
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Atkinson Architects: enhancing heritage renovation with LiDAR and model-making Atkinson Architects: enhancing heritage renovation with LiDAR and model-making

Atkin­son Archi­tects: enhanc­ing her­itage ren­o­va­tion with LiDAR and model-making

Fab Lab South West sup­port­ed Atkin­son Archi­tects with LiDAR scan­ning and archi­tec­tur­al mod­el-mak­ing for a Grade I‑listed ren­o­va­tion on the Dart­ing­ton Estate, deliv­er­ing dig­i­tal pre­ci­sion and tan­gi­ble pro­to­types to inform con­ser­va­tion planning.
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Laura Quinn: innovating wearable glass with digital design Laura Quinn: innovating wearable glass with digital design

Lau­ra Quinn: inno­vat­ing wear­able glass with dig­i­tal design

Irish glass artist and Arts Uni­ver­si­ty Ply­mouth alum­na Lau­ra Quinn col­lab­o­rat­ed with Fab Lab South West to cre­ate mod­u­lar, wear­able glass art using bespoke 3D-print­ed con­nec­tors, blend­ing tra­di­tion­al glass­blow­ing with dig­i­tal fab­ri­ca­tion for more sus­tain­able, adapt­able design.
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AYCH - Improving lives with design and digital fabrication AYCH - Improving lives with design and digital fabrication

AYCH — Improv­ing lives with design and dig­i­tal fabrication

The EU fund­ed Atlantic Cre­ative Youth Hubs Project builds a social inno­va­tion mod­el for young peo­ple sup­port­ing social entre­pre­neur­ship, employ­ment and edu­ca­tion in the cre­ative and cul­tur­al industries.
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Art & Energy: breathing new life into solar design Art & Energy: breathing new life into solar design

Art & Ener­gy: breath­ing new life into solar design

Art & Ener­gy CIC part­nered with Fab Lab South West at Arts Uni­ver­si­ty Ply­mouth in Ply­mouth, South West Eng­land, to explore how pho­to­volta­ic pan­els can be cut, engraved and artis­ti­cal­ly fin­ished with­out sac­ri­fic­ing per­for­mance. The col­lab­o­ra­tion demon­strates how cre­ative tech­nol­o­gy can accel­er­ate pub­lic accep­tance of green infra­struc­ture by mak­ing it desir­able as well as functional.
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Made@EU Made@EU

Made@EU

Bridg­ing the dig­i­tal divide that hin­ders the use of dig­i­tal fab­ri­ca­tion knowl­edge and tech­nolo­gies in the Euro­pean cul­tur­al and cre­ative sectors.
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Fab Lab in schools Fab Lab in schools

Fab Lab in schools

We want to inspire dig­i­tal mak­ers, devel­op dig­i­tal mak­ing skills in young peo­ple, and sup­port the dig­i­tal agen­da with­in the curriculum.
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HackFest HackFest

Hack­Fest

Part of Ven­turefest South West, Hack­Fest is a coun­ty-wide project for young peo­ple to come togeth­er to cre­ate prod­uct pro­to­types that respond to the issues of the future.
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