FabLab: ELAT - K.U.Leuven Reasearch & Development
ELAt is the Eindhoven-Leuven-Aachen triangle, a stimulus for and an example of the improvement of the knowledge economy in Europe via cross border and interregional cooperation. The partners in the ELAt project are three cities (Eindhoven, Leuven and Aachen), two regional public authorities (the Eindhoven Regional Government (SRE) and AGIT, the regional development agency of the Aachen region) and one university (K.U.Leuven R&D).
The K.U.Leuven R&D (LRD) is the Technology Transfer Office (TTO) of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. It is a separate entity within the university with the specific mission to promote and support the transfer of knowledge and technology between the university and the industry. In order to do this, K.U.Leuven Research & Development offers professional advice with regard to legal, technical as well as business-related issues. The activities of K.U.Leuven Research & Development include:
FabLab Leuven
i-propeller has designed an innovative service concept for FabLab Leuven to stimulate the sociale economy in the region of Leuven.
Key objectives of the service concept developed by i-propeller for FabLab Leuven are:
- Allowing social innovators to rapid prototype their ideas, helping them to convince investors or facilitating the creation of tailor made goods;
- Developing computing, engineering, IT and CAD/CAM skills to young unemployed people;
- Democratic innovation processes - end-user sessions aimed to improve existing products by using rapid prototyping;
- Creating a supportive environment aimed to generate high quality ideas;
- Training young people to take up a new employment;
- A focus on marketing new designs by creating social enterprises and cooperating with existing companies.
About FabLab
The FabLab project, initiated by the Center of Bits and Atoms MIT, aims to embed rapid prototyping facilities in communities. FabLabs have been opened in rural India, northern Norway, Ghana, Boston, South Africa and Costa Rica. Fab Lab outreach projects are being explored with a growing group of partners and countries. Every Fablab has developed its own set of services in research, education and design that best fits the local community in which they are settled. Common to all FabLabs is that they have a series of design tools molding and casting facilities, 2D/3D printers/scanners. All participants in FabLab projects form a community in which open source software and expertise are in certain extent shared.
More information:
- FabLab Leuven: www.fablab-leuven.be