"How to Make (almost) Anything": six students and one member of staff from TU Ilmenau took part in the Fab Academy (from the English: fabrication) for the first time under this motto. The challenging five-month program, which combines online teaching in digital manufacturing with creative practical projects in the FabLab@TU Ilmenau, is based on the course of the same name at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, USA. The TU Ilmenau is the only location in the new federal states to be certified for the renowned program under the direction of MIT professor Neil Gershenfeld.
Within five months, the seven course participants learned how to make almost anything themselves in online lectures by the physics and computer science professor and in the FabLab, the makerspace at TU Ilmenau. They were financially supported by scholarships from the Frank Hirschvogel Foundation and the Ilmenau University Society. The lab, which is currently funded by the Carl Zeiss Foundation and the Foundation for Innovation in University Teaching in the examING project, is the first open workshop in Thuringia to be part of the global FabLab network with its excellent tooling. As part of the Ilmkubator start-up service, it offers prospective founders in particular the opportunity to develop prototypes for their business ideas.
Knowledge transfer through open source
The Fab Academy, in which students from TU Ilmenau took part for the first time in 2025, was founded at MIT in 2009 by Prof. Gershenfeld, now head of the Center for Bits and Atoms at the MIT Media Lab. His idea: students who cannot afford 40,000 dollars in semester fees should also be able to benefit from the rapid practical learning experience in rapid prototyping. As an open source-based project, the course is also intended to facilitate the transfer of knowledge worldwide.
Over 1,500 participants worldwide have since completed the program online. In 2025, there were 177 students from around 26 different countries in all time zones working on their projects in parallel in 83 FabLabs, three of which were at German universities. Students at TU Ilmenau have also been taking on this challenge since January. Within 20 weeks, they acquired comprehensive skills in laser cutting, CNC milling, 3D printing and scanning, circuit design and manufacturing. Every Wednesday at 3 p.m. German time, they listened to a one-hour lecture by the MIT professor. They then planned and implemented a new project every week, culminating in a final project that they documented in detail. "We were free within the scope of the topic and the requirements," explains Jakob Lerch, Master's student in Computer Engineering at TU Ilmenau and one of the participants in the program. The desire to be able to dance in a club and control the light in the room at the same time motivated him to develop a wireless and portable MIDI controller wristband, called "Patchlet", as his final project. Fellow student Jarni Raí Cstillo Yarlequé produced a robotic arm that can serve as a prosthesis for people with disabilities or humanoid robots.
Professional support from an experienced mentor at FabLab@TU Ilmenau
The students from Ilmenau received intensive support in the practical implementation of their ideas from Ferdinand Meier, who works in the FabLab at TU Ilmenau. As a "FabLab Guru", he himself completed training at the Fab Academy a few years ago and has since worked as an "instructor" at four Fab Academy locations worldwide:
Every week, our students have produced something or solved more abstract tasks such as programming on a small chip, so-called embedded programming
says the mechanical engineer.
The FabLab at TU Ilmenau provided them with excellent equipment for this: a 3D printer with five different print heads, a vinyl cutter, a small CNC milling machine with a 5-station tool changer, a laser cutter, soldering stations and an inventory of around 200 electronic components - tools that can also be used by TU Ilmenau employees and students outside of the Fab Academy.
They have not only used these tools to produce a wide variety of mechanical prototypes every week, but also electronic ones
explains Dr. Dörte Gerhardt, head of Ilmkubator, which supports members of the TU Ilmenau and those interested in setting up their own business:
In tremendously intensive weeks, the Bachelor's and Master's students learned about the entire digital production process in this demanding, practice-oriented program. They also gained a multicultural perspective on the subject and learned to work together as a team.
Project management and communication skills strengthened
Right at the beginning, the students also created a website. Richard Draxler, a mechatronics student at the TU Ilmenau, also documented his project progress and his final project there every week:
'I was keen to develop an idea for which I won an award at the TU Ilmenau lighting technology competition in November into a working prototype.
His motivation:
Conventional lights, as we know them from bicycles, have complicated mounting systems that have always disappointed me for various reasons. They are not intuitive to use, require two hands and are difficult to handle for people with motor impairments. They break easily and are not durable.
The student quickly realized that such a project is quite complex:
The electronics have to work, the housing has to run, there is software and optics to consider.
He was supported in this challenge by the Lighting Engineering Group, which helped him to create a suitable illumination curve and calculate reflections. He then converted the resulting simulation into a physical 3D print with the help of the Electrochemistry and Electroplating Group, before finally having it electroplated:
In the process, I also strengthened my project management and communication skills: approaching people, interacting with the specialist areas, creating presentations and managing time properly.
The solution that Richard Draxler developed as part of the Fab Academy is called "LUEDO". The multifunctional lamp is magnetic, easy to use, intelligent and adaptive, meaning it can adapt to its environment and can therefore also be used by people with haptic impairments. It can be attached to various types of vehicles and walking aids:
This means that if I attach it to the back of my bike, it lights up red. If I attach it to a rollator or wheelchair, it automatically lights up white in the appropriate holder.
His conclusion:
The Technische Universtität Ilmenau with the Fab Academy is something very special: we exchanged ideas intensively every day in the lab. The project has not only fueled the start-up cosmos, but has also brought us closer to this start-up cosmos.
Cross-border exchange with like-minded people
Niclas Starost, who produced a modular open source midi keyboard with a Falling Notes LED display within 20 weeks, also learned a lot from the Fab Academy:
Above all, manufacturing skills such as CAD design, which do not occur in my studies in this way. But I also learned how to assess the effort involved in such a manufacturing process, which is very important, especially with a view to a possible business start-up. If I hadn't had this opportunity during my studies, I would have found it very difficult to acquire these skills over the years.
The computer science student is the first Ilmenau native to successfully complete the Fab Academy - and with it the opportunity to take part in the FAB25 conference in Prague from July 4 to 11, 2025.
It's pretty cool that I'll have the opportunity to exchange ideas with many other like-minded people there and to meet Professor Gershenfeld in person when he presents us with our certificates.
"A new view of one's own environment"
Student Jakob Lerch sees further value in the Fab Academy:
It empowers participants to produce things for their own community quickly and efficiently, making them less dependent on global supply chains. This makes it easier to repair things and to design and print new parts. These skills open up a new perspective on your own environment: you think much more about how you can shape your surroundings rather than just moving around in them.
It remains to be seen whether all these ideas will lead to business start-ups. The students presented their project results to Ilmenau's Lord Mayor Dr. Daniel Schultheiß and other guests at a network meeting in the Technology and Start-up Center. They showed what is possible when ideas, digital tools and entrepreneurial spirit come together.
Founding a company in Ilmenau can indeed be described as a model for success. There are many doers here who are already helping each other and exchanging ideas
said the Lord Mayor.
Impressions
