NextFab: A brief overview
New Terminology Hackerspace Clubhouse for technology enthusiast group See http://hackerspaces.org FabLab (Fabrication Laboratory) Community accessible technical facility for making physical object; Typically non profit Developed by MIT CBA, Gershenfeld See http://www.fabfoundation.org/fablabs/ Makerspace Service business offering access to facilities for making physical objects See http://nexfab.com
NextFab Mission Statement To promote innovation, personal fulfillment, and economic development through broad based awareness of, access to, competence with, and commerce enabled by, advanced digital design and manufacturing technologies and services. Reimagining Manufacturing for the 21 st Century Leverage creativity Offset cost of labor differential
South Philadelphia Hub 2025 Washington Ave, 21000SF - see: http://nextfab.com/facility Conference Room Class Room Staff Offices Photo Studio Incubators (5) Large Format Printing Co working Workstations Electronics Lasers & Additive Processes Cafe Manual Machining CNC Machining Welding Grinding & Plasma CNC Routing Textiles Paintbooth Loading Waterjet Woodshop Stockroom Wetlab
Digital Design & MFG Technologies Subtractive Flow Corp. Mach4c 3020 Haas TL2 CNC Lathe Haas VF3SSYT VMC ShopBot PRSAlpha CNC Routers (4 x4, 5 x12 ) Roland MDX540 mill Trotec Speedy 500 IR Laser Trotec Flexx 300 UV/IR Laser Additive (3D Printing) Dimension SST 1200es FDM Z Corp Spectrum Z510 3D Systems ProJet 3500 HD+ RepRap, Fab@Home, DeezMaker Bukito (12) Design / Reverse Eng. SolidWorks (MCAD, CFD, FEA) Rhinoceros (Surface / ID) Adobe Suite Altium, Eagle (ECAD) NextEngine HD Scanner
Metal Shop
Wood Shop
Electronics, 3D Printing, Laser Cutting, Large Format Printing
Services Ladder New products New companies Jobs & Commerce General Public Entrepreneurs Corporate Tech Teams Students Workforce Makers / Inventors Small business Commerce Venture incubation Product development Competence Training & Certification Apprenticeship Access HW/SW tools & materials Technical experts & Community Awareness Tours, open-houses, public events Youth and family programs
Awareness: Events & Outreach Franklin Institute Science Festival 500 members of public Yards Tap Handle Challenge 20 designs submitted 350 attendees Department of Making + Doing dmdphilly.org STEAM education, Design + Making Families + Youth
Awareness: Events ABC Shark Tank TV Show NE Regional Talent Search 700 entrepreneurs camped Thunderstorms! 2 minute pitches WallRx $150k for Int l license Chester Co. Medical Examiner
Awareness: Outreach
Access: Membership
Access: Membership Membership: ~600 Who are members? Inventors, hobbyists, makers Students Small business owners Tech entrepreneurs Tech staff of large orgs Artists and arts orgs 23% female / 77% male 14 60+ years old Small Business Membership by Category 4% Arts Organization 2% # Reporting Students 39% Individuals 55% Age distribution by Sex Female Male 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s Age group
Competence: Education ~ 1500 class seats / year ~ 5000 seats since 2010 > 12000 hours since 2010 > 50 classes and courses Beginner through professional certification Technical topics: Software & Hardware Tools Techniques Broad topics: Industrial Design IP law for entrepreneurs Business issues for entrepreneurs
Commerce: Product Development Services Custom commercial luminaire by NextFab: Parametric design 3D printed shade Fabricated metal UL approval 5 units delivered and in service Medical instrument prototype by NextFab Redesigned DSP, power, and optoelectronics systems Sealed, sterilizable packaging 3D printed enclosure Clinical trial-ready 12 units delivered and in trials See: http://nextfabstudio.com/contract-services and http://nextfabstudio.com/our-work
Commerce: Manufacturing FabNet Regional Network Product development Engineering Manufacturing
Commerce: Incubation Infinite Invention > $2M grant, angel funding ($25k NextFab) 5 employees on site Plug+Play residential PV interface Love Park Robotics NSF SBIR Phase II Grant Recipient 2 employees on site AI+machine vision for autonomous vehicles BioMeme (GRADUATED, 6/1/2014) > $2M venture capital ($25k NextFab) 13 employees staying in PHL! Portable DNA diagnostics Ephemeron Labs 1 employee on site Electron microscope control systems BioBots 3 employees on site 3D printers and materials for biological tissue printing
Commerce: Access to Capital BFTP: Technology Commercialization Fund $5000 1:1 matching grants Tangible technology Proof of concept > commercialization Six NextFab clients awarded funds NextFab Ventures $25k stakes in incubated companies Developing larger fund in partnership
NextFab 2025 Washington Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19146 www.nextfab.com info@nextfab.com (215) 921 3649