Fablab Kerala Wins Fab Academy’s First Fame Award for World’s Best Fab Lab

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Fablab Kerala won the inaugural FAME (Fab Academy Masterpiece Execution) award for the world’s best fab lab.

The honour came from the US-based Fab Academy, which conducted an online voting for 18 nominees it shortlisted from participants across the globe. The Thiruvananthapuram-headquartered Fablab Kerala emerged the topper by earning the most number of votes for its product that functions with the assistance of internet and mobile app.

Earlier, Fab Academy Program Director Prof Neil Gershenfeld prepared a final list of 18 participating labs in the Academy’s 2020-21 program.The selection was based on the merit of the projects by the fablabs participating in the Fab Academy’s 2020-2021 program. Each of them were asked to post on Instagram a video of their product. Based on this, an online poll followed.

The product developed by Abel Tomy brought the award for Fablab Kerala. Abel’s gadget works as per commands to show time or, say, token number. It can be operated using Google Assistant as well.

The voting for the FAME award ended on October 4 at 11 pm (American Standard Time), having started at 9 a.m. on September 27. The verdict was announced over Instagram.

Kerala fablabs function under the Kerala Startup Mission. They are based in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi. Of these, the one at Kochi is a super fablab.

KSUM is the state’s 2006-founded nodal agency for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities.

SP Robotic Works Plans to Re-Open Their Maker Labs as Experience Centers for Phase 1

Students of age 7 - 17 can now step-in to SP Robotics Maker Lab to experience Robotics and Coding demo kits before they can enroll for the course and learn from home

Chennai, 23 December 2020: Chennai based startup SP Robotic Works plans to reopen their 'Maker Labs' as experience centers in selected locations as phase 1 in January 2021. The Maker Labs will be open for children and parents to step-in for a demo of the various kits and courses offered in Robotics, Drone, Coding, and other technologies.

These Maker Labs are AI-powered with in-built infrastructure providing a practical experience to parents and students. Hosting a total of 1.5 lakh+ students across 27 cities in India, SP Robotics Maker Lab is India's largest network for students to learn Robotics and Coding. They offer Complete Experiential learning for students of age 7 to 17+ with 10+ Courses in Scratch Programming, Electro blocks, Drone, Android App, Coding, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Internet of Things, Virtual Reality, etc. The company plans to open all the 83 Maker Labs as Phase 2 soon to start their regular operations.

Commenting on this, Sneha Priya, CEO & Co-Founder, SP Robotic Works said, "SP Robotic Works believes in providing an early age interaction with coding and tech for children. The aim is to encourage children to develop a liking for the practical aspect of the technical field and help boost their cognitive and logical thinking skills. Keeping all the necessary precautions at hand, we are thrilled to reopen our labs again for the students to make use of this time in a more productive way. "

Pranavan, CTO & Co-Founder, SP Robotic Works added, "We have seen a huge surge in our online enrollments during this nationwide lockdown. We have grown nearly 700% in the last 7 months as compared to last year. From a home security system to a contactless sanitizer system, students have been successfully creating several coding based projects with the help of the kits during this pandemic. Now that parents can experience the kits and courses before buying, this Phase 1 opening will definitely encourage more enrolments."

SP Robotics Maker Lab was launched to cater to the 92% of the Indian student population who do not have their own computer or internet connection, making it completely unviable for them to learn coding or robotics from their home. These Smart Maker Labs are assisted-online centers, that blends conventional classroom learning with AI-driven methods to assure quality learning. These Labs are equipped with AI-enabled computer systems and Robotic Kits, where the student can log-in and learn online with rich animations and real-time concepts. This innovative model has helped the company scale with quality and cost in-tact quickly growing from 0 to 75+ centers in just a year.

About SP Robotic Works

SP Robotic Works is India's #1 Online Edutainment Company that specializes in providing experiential learning to students between the age of 7 and 17 in the latest technologies like Robotics, Coding, Drone, AI, VR, IoT, and everything that promotes STEM education. The company has been recognized with more than 35 awards and operates across international borders like Australia, UAE, Singapore, Thailand, and Mauritius.

India's Largest Hardware Prototyping Centre (Makerspace) to Launch in April'19

After giving the country its biggest incubation and accelerator centre T-Hub, Telangana government is now gearing up to unveil country’s largest Makerspace a.k.a hardware prototyping centre -- 'T-Works'. T-Works will be open its doors for electronics, electromechanical and mechanical startups and individuals by April, 2019.

The first phase of T-Works will be spread across 70,000 sq. ft. and will house about 500-plus people. Going forward, the second phase of T-Works will be spread across 2.5 lakh sq ft. and can house almost 1,500-2,000 people at any given point of time and it is set to be unveiled in another two years.

In T-Works anyone will get an access to consumable, prototyping equipment and a community of designers, engineers, artists, contract manufacturers, corporates all in one location. Telangana government is committed to continue adding sections to T-Works' prototyping facility to cater to hobbyists, artists, and entrepreneurs.

The hardware prototyping facility, which is set to come up closer to T-Hub phase-II, will be set up with an overall investment of Rs 60 crore out of which Rs 40 crore will be spend on the building and the rest Rs 20 crore will be spent on equipment – purchased both by the government and also by the partnering companies.

Also Read - 20 Best Makerspaces In India To Build and Innovate

The phase-2 of T-Hub, the accelerator & incubator, has been postponed to June next year as there were some defects in the construction, according to the state government officials. The completion T-Hub Pahse-2 is expected by June-July next year.

With the first phase-2, T-Works will be among the top 3 prototyping facility in the world, according to Sujai Karampuri, CEO, T-Works.

More than 30 companies will collaborate with the T-Works and unlike T-hub there will be non-discriminatory access to everyone. The makerspace has partnered with GE First Build, Dassault, Microsoft and Qualcomm for the facility.

The makerspace is actively looking for corporate, academia, non-profits, skilling agencies and others to actively work with it and create an enabling culture for makers and entrepreneurs alike.

RevvX Hardware/IOT Accelerator Expands to North Karnataka with RevvX, Hubli

Bangalore based RevvX IOT/Harware Accelerator has now expanded its footprint to cater to North Karnataka Innovations. RevvX will support early-stage companies advancing applications in Internet of things (IoT),AI, sensors and robotics, with potential to develop and commercialize through its office in Hubli.

Rvvx is also setting up Maker Labs and Incubation Programs in Universities in Tier-1,2,3 cities across India.

The program will connect startups from all over North Karnataka to an established RevvX network of community leaders, founders, mentors, investors and corporate partners.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Office, Founder & CEO of RevvX, Avinash Kaushik said “Indian economy and most parts of the world is heading towards a jobless growth. Advancements in Automation and Artificial Intelligence will make several skills obsolete. Instead of being at the mercy of large Corporates for employment, our youth should pick a problem or a business opportunity they are passionate about and try to solve them at-least as a personal hobby if not full-time. This has the potential to have a multiplier effect in the ecosystem creating several job opportunities."

The Government’s Make in India push has resulted in Technology Business Incubators ( TBI) being set up for IOT across the country. Revvx is supporting these Institutions in not only setting up their IOT lab but also to run IOT and Hardware based Incubation/Accelerator Programs in the Campus.The Hubli Office of Revvx shall drive Skilling, Innovation and Entrepreneurship working closely with BVB College of Engineering and it’s Corporate partners.

Prof Ashok Shettar, Vice-Chancellor, KLE Technological University expressed excitement in having Industry partners show interest in building Hubli as a Hub for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. “ The biggest challenge for Tier-2 city Universities is the access to the Industry. Our partnership with RevvX brings opportunities for our IOT Engineers to solve Corporate problems and move beyond academic projects.” says Prof. Shettar.

Satish Mugulavalli, Mentor at RevvX said “ When I joined Revvx a year ago, I never expected it would have such a deep role to play in the ecosystem. Apart from running my Bike Startup, I’m now Technology Mentor at YourNest VC where I joined my former Boss, Vivek Mansingh, Former MD of Ishoni Networks. Together we have done pathbreaking work at Ishoni and we will continue to work on similar lines for the Indian startup ecosystem."

Serial Entrepreneur and alumni of BVB College, Bahubali Shete, who currently runs the Smart Kitchen Startup, IOTPot shall also advise the IOT startups as a Mentor at RevvX, Hubli. The advantage of running Innovation Programs at Tier-2 cities is their proximity to the grass root challenges in infrastructure, Transport, Distribution, Supply chain and Agriculture. RevvX Hardware Accelerator Program shall support IOT and AI startup Entrepreneurs solving local Indian problems by catalyzing the power to create in India, for India.

20 Best Makerspaces In India To Build and Innovate

The value of an idea lies in the using of it.

Imagine having conceived a groundbreaking idea, but being forced to abandon it just due to unavailability of resources and equipments. Well, this was an almost frequent occurrence in India, until recently.

It has been only a few years since India warmed up to the concept of MakerSpaces. Considered as a playground for innovative minds, MakerSpaces are collaborative work areas packed with equipment and tools where people with a bend for invention and innovation can come together under one roof to build, design, create, and engineer new things, products, ideas etc. While there are only few such facilities open in India, a majority of them have opened their doors to people irrespective of their educational qualifications, age or gender.

Since IndianWeb2 believes, India is a land with abundant talent, here we give those talented minds a ticket to make their dreams and innovations come true. Here are the top 20 Maker Spaces in India.

1. Maker’s Asylum

Mumbai and Delhi
Website: www.makersasylum.com
Membership: Starts at INR 3500 per month and INR 1700 for students
Contact: Mumbai – 9004686828 | Delhi – 8800093203

Maker's Asylum is a place to be for all aspiring artists, thinkers and engineers. The community MakerSpace is based in Mumbai and Delhi, and allows collaborative ideation. It offers an array of 3D printers, laser cutters, CNC machines, electronics lab and prototyping tools for the purpose of woodworking, robotics, bicycle building and repair, rapid prototyping, open source computer-aided design. In addition to this, it also organises affordable classes for its members to provide them training about specific skills, tools and equipments etc.

Founded by two engineers, Vaibhav Chhabra and Anool Mahidharia, Maker's Asylum is currently in the process of setting up a whole new co-working section for startups and freelancers. Interestingly, what is now regarded as one of India's most popular MakerSpace and has presence in two of the hottest cities in India, was born out of a garage in Bandra, Mumbai.

2. Workbench Project

Bengaluru
Website: www.workbenchprojects.com
Membership: Starts at INR 3000 per month
Contact:info@workbenchprojects.com | Phone: 9663090123, 9986437433

The Bengaluru based Workbench Project is a premier MakerSpace that has a fabrication lab, also famously known as fab lab, and a co-working space. The big 5000 sq ft. facility was conceived and executed by Anupama Gowda and Pawan Kumar when they realised that India has a dearth of spaces where engineers could really let go, experiment and engineer new things, something which almost every engineer aspires to do, but neglects due to the high costings involved.

Workbench Project offers its members easy access to power tools, CNC's, 3D printers, sewing machine, welding kit and hand tools, so that they can bring alive their vision. In order to maker sure that people from all walks of lives can access the facility whenever they like, the facility is open seven days a week. There are different membership plans for co-working space membership, MakerSpace membership and co-working plus MakerSpace membership.

3. Collab House

Bengaluru & Hyderabad
Website: collab.house
Membership: Starts from INR 3500 per month
Contact: hello@collab.house | Phone: Bengaluru - 8951192943, Hyderabad - 9985258603

Collab House is a collaborative hub that aims to educate, engage, empower and enable individuals, communities and startups to make a real impact in the world. It also allows people to host events, do meetings and join meetups. It supports hacker, maker, start-up and creative activity. Collab House promote technical, scientific and artistic skills through projects and collaboration.

4. JMoon Makerspace

Delhi
Website: jmoonmaker.space
Membership: Starts from INR 3000 per month
Contact: makerspace@jmoon.co | Phone: 9555956666

JMoon Makerspace in India's capital city Delhi, boosts of being a self-sustaining community space that is open for all passionate makers to access their resources and turn their ideas into reality. It is place meant for for people who like to build, invent or tinker, can socialize and work together with other like-minded people. One can become a JMoon member, improve their skills on the tools and then use the tools for their own projects. The MakerSpace offers tools like Hacksaw, 3D printer, laser engraver, TSOP infrared set, heat gun, and a lot more, so that there's nothing standing in between innovator's ideas and products.

According to JMoon's website, it is India’s FIRST makerspace dedicated to Robotics, Home Automation, Internet of Things, Wearables, 3D Printing and Cosplay.

5. Maker’s Loft

Kolkata
Website: www.makersloft.in
Membership: Starts from INR 3000 per month
Contact: 9830105231

Children are said to be the kind of dreamers who can dream the impossible and then have the passion and zeal to make the impossible, possible. Maker’s Loft is a MakerSpace facility that aims to harness the young creative minds and give them something more than just normal textbook knowledge. It is the first and only ‘makerspace’ in India catering to children as well as adults, according to Maker's Loft website.

With tools like 3D printer and scanner, Google Cardboard, laser cutting machine etc., the MakerSpace proves to be a ideal space for creative children, teenagers and adults to interact and learn from each other.

6. Heramb Maker Lab

Pune
Website: www.herambmakerlab.com
Membership: INR 250 for students --to-- INR 1000 for working person
Contact: makerspace@herambmakerlab.com | Phone: 9819822079

Heramb MakerLab is a place designed to help kids, teenagers, Hobbyists, Enthusiasts to bring their creativity into reality. Situated in heart of the automobile hub PCMC Pimpri, Pune, the makerspace was formed as 3D Printing hub where 3D Printers, 3D Pen had been provided to clients/students for their project work. In year 2015, the maker lab converted its proprietorship business into private limited company.

The facilities include Raspberry Pi, 3D Printing, Digital Furniture Designs and Robotics

7. Chennai Makerspace

Chennai
Website: www.chennaimakerspace.com
Membership: N/A
Contact: makeinchennai@gmail.com| Phone: 9445302000, 8754786026

Founded in July, 2015 to nurture the curiosity and zeal of innovative minds, Chennai Makerspace believes in providing its members creative autonomy coupled with a physical space and tools so that they can easily explore and indulge in their passion. In order to make this happen, the Chennai MakerSpace is stocked with all the necessary tools and equipment that the creative innovators might require to give life to their ideas.

The Chennai MakerSpace is also famous for all the training workshops that they host to polish and diversify the skills of their members. In fact, the space also encourages the members to teach each other the skills and subjects that they're individually proficient in.

8. Vigyan Ashram Fab Lab

Pune
Website: Fablab@vigyanashram.com
Membership: Rs. 500 per year without costs for materials for projects
Contact: 9579734720

Founded in the year 2002, Pune's Vigyan Ashram was the first fab lab established outside MIT. Having received capital equipment by IITK and NSF-USA, the MakerSpace aims to provide the common man with an access to world of technology to design and make their own products. The space has equipment like Laser cutting Machine, Welding station, Roland Milling Machine, 3D printer and scanner, Vinyl cutting machine, Electronic table, hand and power tools.

It has basically two labs, VA Fab Lab at Pabal, which focuses more on the rural crowd, while DIY Lab at Kothrud focuses on the urban crowd. Vigyan Ashram also offers workshops on Raspberry Pi, 3D Printing, Basic Electronics, Arduino, Other DIY Projects, Internet and a Meeting Space.

9. IKP-EDEN

Bengaluru
Website: ikpeden.com
Membership: Starts from INR 5000 per month
Contact: 9570061382, 9739891520

Taking inspiration from the TechShops and FabLabs of the United States, and considering Bangalore to be having the best ecosystem for engineering and industrial design, IKP Knowledge Park, a not for profit science park, decided to set up such a center in Bangalore. It finally leased out a 25,000 sqft building and named it IKP–EDEN (Engineering, Design and Entrepreneurship Network).

IKP–EDEN offers Private room, Meeting room, Class rooms, Cafe, Coworking space, Internet, Locker facility, Mentorship Services, Funding Access and unlimited access to partners like Gates foundation.

10. CEPT FabLab

Ahmedabad
Website: www.fablabs.io/fablabcept
Membership: Bring your own material and you can work for free.
Contact: 9825014578

Located within CEPT University, Ahmedabad, FabLab CEPT is co-run by CEPT University and The Motwani Jadeja Family Foundation.

Since CEPT FabLab aims to help the community, the maker space does not charge its members anything and lets them work on their own projects with the material they bring. The facility offers equipments like Circuit Production, 3D Printing, CNC Milling, Laser Cutting/Engraving, Precision Milling and Vinyl Plotter.

11. Fablab Kerala

Trivandrum & Kochi
Website: fablabkerala.in
Membership: INR 3,000 (Individual), INR 5000 (Institutional), INR 10,000 (Coporates) -- Yearly Fees
Contact: Phone - 0471-2700224/270

A Fabrication Laboratory (FabLab) is a technical prototyping platform and a small scale workshop started by Kerala Startup Misson (KSUM) with the support of Government of Kerala offering digital fabrication which empowers the users to create smart devices for themselves which can be tailored to local or personal needs. It consists of two MIT USA Electronics Fabrication labs each at Technopark, Trivandrum and Kerala Technology Innovation Zone (KTIZ), Kochi. The fablab in Technopark, Trivandrum is established inside the Indian Institute of Technology and Management- Kerala (IIITM-K).

Besides the basic makerspace amenities, both the fablabs offer certification courses.

12. Nutz & Boltz

Delhi
Website: www.nutsandboltz.in
Membership: Free (Volunteers), INR 3000 (Students), INR 3000 (Pro) -- Monthly Fees
Contact: 9599587016-18

Nuts and Boltz is basically a community operated makerspace where people with different minds come and work on different disciplines and present their ideas and innovations and exchange their knowledge like machining, art, aeronautics, robotics, digital art, fashion technology, computers, social activities , science projects and education.

The facilities include Electronics, IoT, Woodwork, 3D Prototyping and hand tools among others.

13. Banaao

Gurgaon
Website:www.banaao.co.in
Membership: INR 300 - INR 9500
Contact: 7042744418

Launched recently, in October this year, Banaao is a platform to promote the maker culture & build a strong community of DIYers & hobbyists in Gurgaon & NCR area. The makerspace specialize in electronics, mechanical and Art & Craft. Banaao offers complete micro-manufacturing services for hardware product development. Moreover, it also offers mentorship & support for incubation.

14. E4D Banjarapalya [Mini Fab Lab]

Bangalore
Website - www.fablabs.io/bpalya
Membership: INR 300 - INR 9500
Contact: abhijit@e4d.io | Phone:8105874995

Started in 2013 in the Banjarapalya village, outside Bangalore (India), this makerspace is a first of its kind rural tech space, run completely by the local community itself, engaging people from all backgrounds and ages, in a bias free, self-customised environment of learning.

15. Project DEFY (School-based Makerspace)

Bangalore & Mangalore
Website: www.projectdefy.org/strong>
Membership: Bring your own material and you can work for free.
Contact: abhijit@projectdefy.org | Phone: 8105874995

Project DEFY (Design Education for Yourself) is reaching out to communities who are distraught with the inefficiency of current education systems, and helping them to create their own Nooks – self-learning.

16. The Workshop

Bangalore
Website: the-workshop.in
Membership: INR 220/hour to INR 8000/2-months
Contact: make.do@the-workshop.in | Phone: 9673686059/8095219305

The Workshop is a cross-disciplinary design research initiative where designers, innovators, makers, and the curious can explore and pursue their interest in the made world, develop personal projects, conduct academic research and start collaborative projects.

The facilities include 3D Printer, CNC Machine (DIY), Electronics Table, Metal Work Bench, Wood Work Bench, Power tools and Hand tools. Besides, it also offers incubation facility for hardware & design startups.

17. Curiosity Gym

Mumbai
Website: curiositygym.com
Membership: N/A
Contact: explore@curiositygym.com | Phone: 022-22617244

Curiosity Gym is a space for people of all ages and professions, including young students. It provides tools and space for entrepreneurs to work on their own projects as well.

The facilities include 3D Printing, 3D doodling, Woodworking, Automation, IoT, Making Drones, and Wearables.

18. MakersBox - Karnal

New Delhi, Noida and Karnal
Website - makersbox.in/
Membership: Rs. 3,500 for casual/professional members | Rs. 1,750 for students
Contact: care@makersbox.in | Phone: 011-39585454

In October 2015, Harkrishan Singh and Dhruv Bhutani, started MakersBox and were incubated by SproutBox. Later in October, Harpreet Kaur Sapra joined them as a Co-Founder to enable their vision of changing out of school curriculum and help them scale up their venture from an Idea to the first real customer.

Backed by Intel and Haryana Government, the Innovation lab that was inaugurated by Mr. B.L. Chawla, father of Late Kalpana Chawla, first woman of Indian origin in space, is fully fitted with Mechanical Tools, 3D Printers, Arduino and Raspberry Pi boards, computers, Lego Educational Kits, Robotic Kits, High Speed Wireless Internet, MakersBox Courseware and Software.

19. Potential Labs

Hyderabad
Website: potentiallabs.com
Membership: N/A
Contact: info@potentiallabs.com | 9030033049

Potential Labs is a small research lab in areas of embedded & IT Consulting, Training and Product Development Research Lab (+Hackerspace/Makerspace), and also help makers drive their inner potential.

The facilities include Android, Robotics, Integrating them both, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Embedded Systems, RTOS, VLSI, Cheaper and Affordable Electronics, OpenSource Dev, Philanthrophing, Sustainable Energy and 3D Motion Gestures.

20. Meerut Makerspace

Place: Meerut
Website: www.meerutmakerspace.com
Membership:
Contact: 8791100095, 9412709024

For people bubbling with innovative and creative ideas in and around Meerut, Meerut Makerspace is the saviour you have been longing for so long.

The Meerut Makerspace aspires to fill-up the differences in ideologies of masses and make them technologically updated. While the entire country is wasting precious time by wondering about the scavenge of technological backwardness, the Meerut Makerspace has been developing some really amazing engineered products and investing their energy in doing something constructive rather than cribbing and pinpointing people/government organisations for the teleological backwardness of the country. For example, the space has developed SWARMY, a robotic platform for all, designed primarily for research purposes in the field of swarm intelligence, inter-agent co-ordination and artificial collective flocking.