Kerala, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Unite To Set Up 'Super Fab Lab' To Boost Startups

After two electronic fab labs, Kerala is all set to have two more fab labs in the state including one in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The Super Fab Lab in Kochi is in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is the world's first such MIT- backed facility to function outside the United States.

Fab Lab Kerala

Fab Labs are fabrication laboratories offering digital fabrication and computation. The Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) super fab lab, which is to come up in Kochi, will allow researchers, innovators, and developers to do things beyond the purview of the state's existing fab labs.

A Mini Fab lab will also be inaugurated in Palakkad, adding to a state-wide network of 20 such establishments that allow students to learn digital fabrication and experiment with the technology which combines computer-aided design with additive and subtractive manufacturing.

Fab Lab Kerala

The upcoming super fab lab at ISC will have state-of-the-art machines worth more than Rs 7 crore in an area of 10,000 square feet. Kerala presently has two electronic fab labs, functioning at Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi. The super fab lab at Kochi will make ISC one of the country's most sought-after investment hubs, coming as it is after electronics hardware incubator Maker Village and its biotech counterpart Bio-Nest.

Fab Lab Kerala

KSUM Chief Executive Officer Saji Gopinath said the Startup Mission's collaboration with MIT will also allow Kerala's hardware startups to use the Super Fab Lab and work with researchers of MIT's Centre for Bits and Atoms on an MTM (Machine That Make) project.

The first experiment in this direction has been successfully completed at the Fab Lab in Thiruvananthapuram with the creation of a three-axis CNC machine. KSUM is positioned to lead the transition of the MTM project from research projects in the lab to fully functioning units in the field.

Fab Lab Kerala

The Maker Village & Bionest¡¯ under the KSUM which was inaugurated last year is said to the biggest startup ecosystem in the country. BRINC which is the country's first international accelerator for hardware startups. BRIC which aids developing solutions for cancer diagnosis and care and a Centre of Excellence set up by the industry majors.

Last year the state had also launched its own branded laptops. Coconics, which is a Public-private partnership (PPP) is a joint venture between the Kerala government and US-based technology major UST global. The manufactured at the State-run Keltron campus in Neyyattinkara, Thiruvananthapuram is aimed at providing electronic hardware to government offices, educational institutions and businesses.