A top official from the Centre for Bits and Atoms, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), met Chief Minister Oommen Chandy here on Monday to discuss the details of two ‘Fab Labs’ being set up in the State.

Neil Gershenfeld, Director of the MIT Centre, was here to chart out a roadmap for setting up the two proposed Fab Labs in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.

Outreach component

Fab Lab is the educational outreach component of the MIT Centre, an extension of its research into digital fabrication and computation.

It is a technical prototyping platform for innovation and invention, providing stimulus for local entrepreneurship and doubles up a platform for learning and innovation.

A Fab Lab connects to a global community of learners, educators, technologists, researchers, makers and innovators - a knowledge sharing network that spans 30 countries and 24 time zones.

Because all Fab Labs share common tools and processes, the programme is building a global network, a distributed laboratory for research and invention.

Fab Lab comprises of off-the-shelf, industrial-grade fabrication and electronics tools wrapped in open source software and programmes written by researchers at the MIT Centre.

Locations

The first Fab lab will be set up on IIITM-K campus at Technopark here. Gershenfeld was scheduled to visit the Startup Village campus in Kalamassery, Kochi, where the second lab will come up.

During his stay here, he had a meeting with Kuncheria P Issac, Vice-Cheancellor, Kerala Technological University, to discuss possibilities of exploring a tie-up between the university and MIT.

Gershenfeld, who will supervise the setting up the two Fab Labs, discussed the scope and activities to be taken up by them.

They are being set up as part of the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme of the State government. Kerala Startup Mission (formerly Technopark-TBI or technology business incubator)) is the designated implementing agency.

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