NHTI Fab Lab
After being awarded a $14 million dollar Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) Grant NHTI was looking to launch a new Industrial Design program and digital fabrication lab to complement many of their existing manufacturing programs.
Unfortunately, space was tight and every program was already on a lean budget. And moreover, no one on the team had experience developing a digital fabrication lab in the first place.
Setting a standard
In order to better understand what we were designing for, interviews with prominent makerspaces, fab labs, and industrial design schools were scheduled to understand necessary components and skills for students.
Examples of model makerspaces, from Industrial Design schools, to the original at MIT
A variety of tools
One learning was to give students as many learning opportunities as possible by providing plenty of tools and machines to experiment with.
Departmental Collaboration
Many of the stronger programs at NHTI focused on accessibility to other departments to provide opportunities for collaboration which gave closer to real-life learning experiences.
Adaptability
Technology and job requirements will change. The space needed to be able to adapt to those varying needs, especially for a new program bound to grow in both class size and learning goals.
Functionality over aesthetics
The space is meant to be a work area so things will get dirty and used. Planning for furniture and surfaces that are replaceable and repairable, not precious, would be beneficial in the long-run.
Let it happen
A common thread from many of the makerspaces was not to over plan. The space will evolve naturally over time to fulfill the needs of the students as time passed.
Playing with layout
When designing the room, care was taken to utilize existing furniture, protect vital equipment, and provide an open workspace to give students an ample learning and development space.
Final Shots
The final room was completed in time and on budget for classes starting at the end of August 2017. An initial four students would go on to become the first class of the nation’s first 2-year Industrial Design program with the program continuing to run to this day.
