Tamil Nadu to establish 3 Fab Labs in govt engineering colleges

CHENNAI: In a first, the Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation Mission (TANSIM) will establish three Fab Labs, one each in three government colleges in Tirunelveli, Salem and Tiruchy.

“Fab labs help in studying converging technologies like 3D printing, printed circuit boards, Internet of Things (IoT) and so on. The students will get first hand information about the process and technologies behind the manufacturing of electronic equipment,” Sivarajah Ramanathan, CEO, TANSIM, told DT Next. The concept of Fab Labs was created by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to locally conceptualise, design, develop, fabricate, and test almost anything. They would also provide a thriving incubator for local micro-businesses.

The State government had proposed to establish Fab Labs on the lines of the MIT model. “MIT has created a syllabus, a methodology for setting up Fab Labs. We will adopt the same methodologies to manufacture the desired equipment,” said Sivarajah. TANSIM has been entrusted with the job of being the nodal agency for establishing Fab Labs. It will take the support of the Directorate of Technical Education (DoTE) for setting up the three labs at a total cost of Rs 2.2 crore. Apart from the regular syllabus, the Fab Labs require additional courses for students to provide them with the required training on converging technologies.

“The proposed Fab Labs will be combined with a value-added course called Proto-sem (prototyping semester) to enable students to get hands-on training for prototyping on appropriate engineering and electronic equipment or platforms. TANSIM will implement this programme through a partner organisation. The Fab Labs will also be used by MSMEs and the startup ecosystem around the region,” Sivarajah added.

Fab Labs are increasingly becoming popular as recently, a Singapore-based firm IGSS Ventures also proposed to establish one in the proposed semiconductor park in the State.