Fab lab management

Fab Lab management Fab 6

Work in process

Fab

• Academics
• Business
• Community

Lab Profile

• - Stand alone
• - Institutional
• - Community based

Main aspects

• - Infrastructure
• - Human capital - staff
• - Operation equipment
• - Program content
• - Safety (people and equipment)

Overhead

• Payroll
• Building
• Heating
• Cooling
• Electricity
• Rent
• Taxes
• Insurance – property + personal injury

Finances / book-keeping
Cleaning
Telephone
Internet
PR
Materials / Consumables
Equipment maintenance and repair costs

Staff

How many people?
Managers
Instructors 
Researchers
Volunteers
Interns
Technician
Maintenance – Cleaning
Personnel training (Initial and on going)

Peer-to-peer Boot camp Fab Academy Self training Other fab labs

Staff profile

Interpersonal skills
Charismatic
Enthusiastic
Multifunctional
Technical knowledge
Previous experience (Computers, electronics, design, entrepreneurship) 
Creative
Collaborative (ready to help and enjoy it)
Reliable
Good sales person
Good teacher

Hardware 

- Equipment maintenance - Inventory - Repairing

Software 

- Licensing - Open source, free source, commercial - Upgrading - Cleaning - virus! - Backup - http://fab.cba.mit.edu/about/fab/

Server installation, networked computers and machines
Material management (inventory, ordering - suppliers, reuse, waste, optimization, nesting-efficient use)
Security
Scheduling
Fund raising

Program development and coordination

- Faculty - Content - Operative aspects

Education and research

- Fab Academy - Global Bootcamp - Fab Lab Network projects - Local research and impact projects - Support to other programs - Open access

Workshops

- Weekend workshops - Two week workshops - Boot Camp - 30min – 1hr demonstrations

Scheduling 

- Priorities - Students - Clients

Documentation and diffusion

- Wiki - Web - Handbooks - Prove effectiveness (Statistics)

Communication and Networking 

- Polycom - Web - e-mail - skype - Collaboration (File sharing, regional - global) - GIT and Bazaar - VNC

Scheduling 

How to Schedule? Eventbrite, Calendar For different groups

Google Calendar or Google Spreadsheets First come -> first served How to handle machine time schedule?

Insurance / Safety Safety and insurance for employees, volunteers, users, visitors How to handle insurance? Liability? Machine damage, or people damage

Enter at your own risk

What is a Fab Lab?

Global network of people who want to cooperate and share knowledge Fab Charter: http://fab.cba.mit.edu/about/charter/

How to make the Fab Lab sustainable? Fab Education? Fab Business?

Ideas of fundraising Fab Education? Fab Business? Funds from government Project based funding Private companies investors

Open access How it works?

How to encourage instruction? How to handle big groups? How to organise and take larger groups to it. Based on structure. Start on a project, how to train, balance the time, design vs. Producing. Teach a class Training, good to have cameras and projectors Vinyl cutter -> Laser -> Shopbot