By Stephanie Cox
Staff Writer

On Wednesday California State University Bakersfield introduced to the community the new Fabrication Laboratory, where students from K-12 as well as CSUB students and the community can turn concept into design.

The Fab Lab, according to the CSUB website is, “an advanced digital fabrication laboratory that consists of a suite of fabrication and rapid prototyping machines, typically including a large CNC Router (the shopbot), a 3D desktop mill and scanner, a vinyl cutter, a laser cutter, an electronics work bench, a 3D printer and the accompanying computers and software.”

Dean for the School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering, Dr. Anne M. Houtman stated that of labs created, the CSUB Fab Lab is 1 of 400 internationally in 50 countries. The CSUB Fab Lab is only 1 of 59 in the nation and 1 of 3 in California. No other CSU or UC has a Fab Lab.

There were many special guests from Chevron and the Fab Lab foundation present to give speeches.

The first was Blair Blackwell, manager of education and corporate programs at Chevron, who said, “we [Chevron] believe Bakersfield will set the bar” for other Fab Labs across the nation. She also stated that Chevron has dedicated $10 million to build Fab Labs nationwide.

The second guest was Thad Gailey, IT Manager at Chevron, who said, “we have an essential homegrown ‘How its Made’” featuring “top notch” equipment like 3D printers.

The final guest was Sherry Lassiter Executive Director of the Fab Lab Foundation, who presented President Horace Mitchell with a key made of acrylic in the Fab Lab, to commemorate the event. She closed saying, “Welcome to the network.”

Inside the Fab Lab there were four Students at four different machines offering demonstrations to the community of how the lab and its machines work.

The first Machine was a milling machine that can be used to build furniture or cars, it can cud wood, alloy, and other materials.

The second station was a machine that can create stickers and t-shirts by sing a design from a laptop. The student working the machine was Mohammed Cook, 20, Electrical engineering major. He said the Fab Lab has, “turned my 2D concepts into 3D reality. I could only draw my product, here I can create it.” Cook aspires to be an automotive electrical engineer but said, “Anything with engineering makes my knees weak.”

The third machine in the Fab Lab was a laser cutter, cutting puzzles that were being handed out as a real life product of the Fab Lab for the community. The student behind the station was Marcoantonio Salazar, 20, Engineering Sciences major, who said the impact of the Fab Lab have been, “pretty significant impact now that I can see the physical form of things.”

Two other machines including a 3D printer were also in the Fab lab with demonstrations being made to the community.