Establishing a fabrication and manufacturing facility with high precision capabilities and the ability to produce components variations in terms of geometry and materials that are vitally important to current initiatives in the UAEU and the UAE. Examples include building components for space projects including satellites and space probes and fabrication of surgical implants. In addition to this goal, the UAEU Fab Lab will serve students, researchers, innovators in the UAEU and the country and Al Ain region to realize their innovation ideas and engineering solutions through state-of-the-art manufacturing and fabrication equipment and services that will enable those designers and innovators to convert their conceptual designs into prototypes. The Lab will also provide training workshops to students and innovators on using fabrication equipment under a safe and controlled environment. The UAEU Fab Lab will also assist designers to produce geometric CAD models and engineering drawings for their designs. Such geometric models are essential for using modern manufacturing techniques and equipment that are computer based, including CNC machine tools, laser cutters, and 3D printers.
Designers, innovators, and inventors need to convert their innovation ideas and inventions into working prototypes to demonstrate and prove their concepts and to test and evaluate their proposed solutions. Such prototypes usually consist of components and subsystems that are integrated and assembled together to function as a system. While some of these components are of-the-shelf components/subsystems that can be purchased, there are components and subsystems that must be custom made, fabricated and developed. Such a customized build of the system is typically costly and expensive when outsourced. Furthermore, finding good manufacturing provider who accepts small jobs is not easy. On the other hand, carrying out the development without proper equipment, resources and most importantly without manufacturing knowhow will most likely reduce the success chances. To remove these barriers and encourage designers and innovators to move ahead with implementing their ideas, a fabrication facility that can help designers realize their designs with affordable cost is needed.
The project is to establish a facility and equip it with modern manufacturing and fabrication equipment and resources and provide it with highly skilled trainers and supervisors. The project will serve the school and university students, hobbyists, researchers and innovators in building prototypes and setups that relate to innovative projects and research. It will also serve the UAE in manufacturing of special components needed for the current and future national initiatives. This can be achieved after accelerated and well-planned capability building in advanced design and manufacturing
The main business objectives of the project are:
The FabLab will provide facilities and expertise in subtractive and additive manufacturing, Micro and Nano fabrication. Equipment's include:
Conventional Machining
Nonconventional Machining
Thank you for your interest, For further information on the UAEU - Industry 4.0, please contact the following: