Fabrication Lab EG

Founded and ran the fabrication lab at Evangelisches Gymnasium Lippstadt during junior and senior year of high school. The school had five Bambu Lab X1Cs. Everything else I brought in from my own print farm: SLA printers, laser cutters, and additional FDM machines. Mentored 12 students across grades 6 to 10 in 3D printing, CAD, laser cutting, PCB design, and building their own websites. The goal from the start was to train people well enough that the lab wouldn't depend on me, which worked. I handed it off before graduating and haven't been involved since.

Build a functional makerspace in a school environment and develop students who can work independently, not just follow instructions when I'm present.

• School equipment budget was limited. Most of the hardware came from my own print farm.
• Students ranged from grade 6 with no prior experience to grade 10 with some CAD background
• Lab needed to run without direct supervision for routine work

• Process documentation written for the youngest students. If a 6th grader can follow it, it's clear enough.
• Machine training structured in tiers: supervised, then assisted, then independent, with explicit signed-off checkpoints
• CAD curriculum built around actual student projects rather than abstract exercises. Better retention and more useful output.

1. 01

   Initial equipment setup: 5 Bambu Lab X1Cs from the school plus SLA printers, laser cutters, and FDM machines from my own print farm

2. 02

   Curriculum development for 3D printing, Fusion 360 CAD, laser cutting, PCB design, and web development

3. 03

   Student onboarding and machine certification program

4. 04

   Ongoing: weekly mentoring sessions, equipment maintenance, curriculum updates based on what students actually needed

• Teaching someone to fix a printer jam is more valuable than fixing it for them. The lab scales when students can solve their own problems.
• The biggest skill gap is tolerating iteration, not technical ability. Getting students to redesign instead of giving up is most of the work.