Build digital skills. Share what works.

This introductory workshop provides a practical insight into large-scale robotic metal 3D printing technologies with a focus on Directed Energy Deposition (DED). Participants will explore the principles of robotic additive manufacturing, compare major DED technologies, and discover how WAAM (Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing) enables the efficient production of large-scale metal components. The workshop combines theoretical background with real-world demonstrations from the laboratories of Brno University of Technology, including examples of steel and magnesium alloy printing.

Target: University students

Week-long project challenge for one class of students. Students separate into teams or work together. On the first day, they get a task reflecting a real-life problem (possibly straight from a specific company). They learn to operate FabLab machines to finish the project. They have mentors to consult during the week and then present their finished solution on the last day..

Target: High school students

The semester project focused on the topic of upcycling and the creative reuse of waste and surplus materials originating from industrial production and manufacturing processes. Students worked in teams and were tasked with sourcing various discarded or leftover materials from factories, workshops, or other production facilities — such as textile remnants, cardboard tubes, broken hockey sticks, reinforcing steel bars, and other unused components — and designing a new value-added product from them. The emphasis was placed not on conventional recycling, but on the principles of upcycling, meaning the effective reuse of existing materials and their original forms while minimizing additional energy-intensive processing. Students were required to analyze the specific properties, potential, and limitations of each material and incorporate these characteristics into a product design that meaningfully utilized their advantages. An important aspect of the assignment was also the role of constraints — the availability, dimensions, and existing shapes of the collected materials directly influenced the resulting designs and acted as significant compositional and structural limitations. The project therefore encouraged students to think more critically about the relationship between material, form, manufacturing processes, and the final function of a product.

Target: University students