This is important because bioplastics are so tensile.
Ideas for another week of material?
Programmable matter, nanoscale self-assembly, AI material design
And given that I see neither woodworking nor welding, I'd argue that the course should be renamed to "How to make some things (most of which require a computer)".
I had a little stint doing sewing projects and I found that I could make totally legitimate, durable, functional outdoor gear in a single weekend (~15 hrs) from zero experience. As functional and close to as attractive as something you'd buy at REI. I think the nice industrial machine I was on helped, but still!
But yes, generally speaking, the focus is on digital(ish) fabrication which is probably not entirely surprising - it's a course by the Center for Bits and Atoms.
In recent iterations, they have a choose-your-own week which included embroidery machines (which while admittedly barely scratching the surface of sewing, fits easily in the digital fabrication theme!) I also learned a fair bit about woodworking in the CNC week! The class is a whirlwind, but I left the class not being afraid of many types of fabrication, even if I was well aware I had a lot to learn.
A friend of mine final project: https://fabacademy.org/2022/labs/charlotte/students/nidhie-d...
Also, as someone already mentioned, see fabricacademy.
Edit:
What about making a cast iron skillet from scratch? https://fabacademy.org/2024/labs/dilijan/students/shushanik-...
Lex Fridmen has a podcast with the professor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF35Udv1DBU
Also, the class documentation itself is not where the "cool" stuff is, it's in all the student documentation. Here is a list of all the students in this past years FabAcademy: https://fabacademy.org/2025/people.html
And here are some highlights for this years final projects: https://fabacademy.org/2025/highlights.html
And what I always really liked where the weekly highlights as well (I don't have a link handy at the moment, I'd often make notes for myself of different projects.)
This is like one of those 10 countries in 10 days tours of Europe. The next step is to get good at one of those skills, which takes weeks to months. But time is too tight in college for that.
criddell•11h ago
I think Gershenfeld was a little early, but high quality, sophisticated personal fabrication is here.