State-of-the-art FabLab opens

The University of Oulu’s FabLab (Fabrication Laboratory), the largest in Finland and amongst the largest in Europe, was officially opened on October 30th 2015. The state-of the-art €900,000 facility spans more than 280 m2 and is packed with tools that can bring any idea to life. These tools include:

  • 3D printers that can be used to turn a 3D model into a physical object. Model: Fortus 380mc.
  • Laser cutter to make 2D/3D structures from wood/plexiglass with ease. You can just sketch, upload, print and assemble your design. Model: Epilog Fusion 40″ 75W
  • Metal cutting and High-resolution NC milling which can be used to produce more durable designs. For example this can be used with copper for antennas and flexible circuitry, along with our state-of-art NC milling machine for circuit boards and precision parts.
  • Wood and vinyl craftsmanship which can be used to shape wood into designs. Our large wood router can be used for building furniture. Models: Roland SRM-20 and Roland s24.
  • Electronics and Gadgets studio enables coders to use off-the-shelf components and programming tools that connect to low-cost, high-speed micro controllers for on-site rapid circuit prototyping and gadgetry. The electronics workspace offers all the tools you need to guarantee a working prototype.

The FabLab will substantially advance our Center’s research on gadgets and interactive products, as well as enrich our teaching by enabling students to work and produce their innovative designs. The FabLab will bring together the substantial expertise across the whole Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering. As Dean Prof. Jukka Riekki noted, “We are investing on the future engineers, inventors, tinkerers and creators. We want to remove any boundaries to their great ideas.”  

The Fab Lab follows the idea of open innovation. Project manager Jani Ylioja says that the space can in principle be used by anybody. “We hope that students, researchers and business people of various fields will come together here. Experiences from Fab Labs around the World show that the more varied the students are who do things and try them out together, the more incredible the results are,” says Ylioja.

Photographs from the opening ceremony and the available equipment are shown below.