Fab Foundation Marks Milestone Entering Third Decade of FABx Digital Fabrication Conference

 Since 2005, the annual international Fab Lab Conference & Symposium – FABx – has been the biggest digital fabrication conference in the world, gathering an average of nearly 900 participants from more than 50 different countries for a week of engaging discussions and activities. Co-hosted by The Fab Foundation, the Center for Bits and Atoms at MIT, and a local host, the conference takes place in a different part of the world every year.

FAB24 Mexico, held in Puebla from July 24 to August 9, 2024, marked a significant milestone as a post-pandemic conference. Co-hosted by Ibero Puebla University, the hybrid event leveraged a combination of four platforms: onsite in Mexico, the FAB24 website, WhatsApp groups, and the Fab Foundation’s YouTube channel. The combined program featured five interconnected events with a total of nearly 250 distinct activities. Across all events, more than 3,000 in-person participants attended, and more than 3,500 online viewers tuned in to watch 15+ hours of live-streamed conference content.

The Fab City Challenge Mexico, led by the Fab City Foundation and Ibero Puebla, sponsored by The Fab Foundation, took place from July 24 to August 4 in seven different sites around Mexico. ARTeFAB, the first exhibition to be part of Fab Events, showcased 80 projects from 15 countries on-site at the Centro Cultural San Roque from July 25 to August 7, accompanied by its online EXPO. The Fab Festival Mexico was a dynamic two-day event, held August 3 & 4, that included interactive activities, Fab City Challenge solutions, and opportunities for the local community to participate in hands-on workshops. The Fab Lab Conference & Symposium took place August 5-9. Over five days, 40 keynote speakers led expert panels and live symposia on Technology 5.0, Future-Proof Skills, Cultural Equity, Community Innovation & Impact, and Innovative Industries. The conference also featured updates from the network, award announcements, and an Academany graduation ceremony. Each day, participants had the opportunity to engage in a variety of activities: cultural demonstrations, lightning talks, working groups, academic research presentations, hands-on workshops, and networking sessions. On August 8, the Beyond Fashion Runway—another first for Fab Events—was held, showcasing 50 unique fashion designs.

“FAB24 Mexico was a terrific and successful event for the Fab Lab Network. We unveiled new network-wide projects designed to realize our collective social impact potential in the world. The Fab City Challenge created new relationships between the network and Mexican communities that will have a lasting impact. We were privileged to see the future of fashion through the creations of the growing global cohort of Fabricademy students and alumni. We celebrated many new graduates of Academany. We had our first animatronic MC on stage this year, thanks to the Central Coast Mobile Fab Lab team from Monterey, CA. We engaged in hundreds of workshops, talks, and activities. And we heard from high-profile, thoughtful experts on the theme of Fabricating Equity.

“It was a beautiful event in which we used and thought about technology in the context and service of humanity. That is super special. That is what drives the Fab Lab Network. It is what elevates our work beyond the ordinary to the extraordinary.” -Sherry Lassiter, President and CEO, The Fab Foundation

FABx Events are directed by Sherry Lassiter, Luciano Betoldi, Neil Gershenfeld, and a “glocal” (global & local) team each year. At FAB24 Mexico, a core group of globally distributed members brought together deep familiarity with the community and understanding of the tools and their capabilities. Members of the local team in Mexico were experienced and proactive with strong problem-solving skills and technical expertise. Additionally, a group of 40 volunteers from Ibero Puebla provided local knowledge and tireless on-the-ground support, ensuring the event’s success. Support was also provided by a deeply engaged group of sponsors, including Chevron, SOLIDWORKS and 3D EXPERIENCE of Dassault Systèmes, the Motwani Jadeja Family Foundation, Seeed Studio, Volkswagen, Brother, Trotec, CeluPal, the Gobierno de Puebla, and the Secretaria de Economia.

FAB24 Mexico – the 20th annual Fab Lab Conference & Symposium—brought together members of the international Fab Lab Network, government representatives, stakeholders from the manufacturing industry, artists, teachers, academic researchers, and digital fabrication experts. It served as a platform for participants to unite, present, envision, innovate, foster community, share best practices in digital manufacturing and fabrication, and engage in constructive discussions about solutions to global challenges. The event illuminated the potential of collaboration and collective effort in creating profound social impact and shaping a better future through the capabilities of digital fabrication.

View and download the full FAB24 Mexico Summary Impact Report here: https://fabfoundation.org/media/fab24_recap

FAB25 Czech Republic, the next edition of the international Fab Lab Conference & Symposium, is scheduled for July 4-9, 2025, taking place in Brno and Prague.

The Fab Foundation, which emerged from MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA) Fab Lab Program, is a non-profit organization that supports and promotes digital fabrication around the world. The Foundation operates a global network of Fab Labs – community-based workshops that provide access to the tools and technologies of advanced manufacturing. The Fab Foundation organizes the annual FABx event, bringing together makers, innovators, educators, and community leaders from around the world to explore and celebrate the transformative power of digital fabrication.

MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms is an interdisciplinary initiative exploring the boundary between computer science and physical science. Launched by a National Science Foundation award in 2001, CBA studies how to turn data into things and things into data. It manages facilities, runs research programs, supervises students, works with sponsors, creates startups, and does public outreach.

Instituto de Diseño e Innovación Tecnológica (IDIT) Ibero Puebla is an open innovation ecosystem that uses cutting-edge technology to develop innovative solutions for communities, companies and government through applied research projects in conjunction with academia. It seeks to bring the most advanced technology and knowledge of design and digital production to all people who have innovative ideas or projects with potential for success.

The Fab City Global Initiative facilitates the connection between the maker movement and policymakers in order to build critical momentum toward the development of a new production paradigm – where food, energy, and products are made using local infrastructure and materials. The knowledge and open source prototypes created for this local production are then shared globally, thanks to the power of the internet.

The state and municipal governments of Puebla are working together to improve the quality of life for all citizens of the Puebla region in México. As a united force, they committed to providing direct support for FAB24 in their collective effort toward fabricating equity.