The inauguration of India’s first Super Fab Lab in Kochi on January 25th marked a giant leap for India’s hardware industry. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the Lab with the help of a remote control from Palakkad, where he attended a programme at the government Polytechnic College.
The lab is built in collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), it has machines worth 7 crore in an area of 10,000 sq. ft. The lab is situated at the ‘Integrated Startup Complex’ (ISC) of the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM). The Fab Labs is the brainchild of Dr. Neil Gershenfeld who is currently the Director of MIT Centre for Bits and Atoms. Dr. Gershenfeld had flown down to India to help set up the facility. This lab is the only such lab outside the USA. Fab labs are fabrication laboratories offering digital fabrication and computation.
The state-of-art machines at the Lab will enable the state to produce machines locally; this widens the possibility for students, faculty and entrepreneurs to learn digital fabrication. The Super Fab Lab with its technology and machinery brings India closer to the ‘Make in India’ dream, as the country will be able to manufacture all its products in the nation itself.
Kerala currently has two electronic Fab Labs, one at Trivandrum and the other in Kochi. Palakkad also hosts a Mini Fab Lab which was also inaugurated on the 25th; this adds to the existing 20 such facilities across the state. Kerala is giving India head start in technological development and expansion. Fab labs aim to encourage startups in the field of electronics and other similar areas.
A huge boost to the industrial sector and a brilliant beginning to a culture of completely Indian Made products, Super Fab Lab is set to make ISC one of India’s most sought-after investment hubs.