# Fab Academy Course Structure
# How to Make (Almost) Anything
The Fab Academy teaches principles and applications of digital fabrication. It was developed to teach hands-on skills in fab labs, which began as an outreach project from MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms, and has grown into a global network of more than 500 labs. Fab Academy instruction is based on MIT’s popular rapid-prototyping course How To Make (almost) Anything (opens new window), both taught by Prof. Neil Gershenfeld & global experts from accross the globe.
# Accreditation
The Fab Academy Diploma is awarded by the Fab Academy community with the support of the Fab Lab Network. In the last years, numerous institutions hosting the course started accrediting the skills developed in the course; you can check these institutions here (opens new window).
The Fab Diploma is earned by progress rather than the calendar, after the successful completion of a series of certificate requirements. Each student builds a portfolio that documents their mastery of skills individually, and their integration into a Final Project. This portfolio is reviewed by local instructors, regional mentors, and global evaluators to ensure that each student meets global standards and follows evolving best practices.
The Fab Academy Diploma has led to students obtaining employment, investment opportunities, academic admission, and recognition.
Fab Academy has no institutional connection with MIT (and none should be claimed), it is supported by the Fab Foundation.
# Academany
The Fab Academy platform has subsequently been used to add classes (collectively called Academany) that share the model of hands-on instruction to students in workgroups, with local mentors, linked by shared content and interactive lectures by global leaders.
The first of these is How To Grow (almost) Anything, an introduction to biotechnology with a faculty team led by Harvard’s Prof. George Church, with more classes under development, as well as programs for more advanced study planned. Then Fabricademy (opens new window) and Grow with Fab (opens new window) followed.
# Fab Academy Diploma Content
The following units are part of the program:
Principles and Practices (opens new window)
Project Management (opens new window)
Computer-Aided Design (opens new window)
Computer-Controlled Cutting (opens new window)
Electronics Production (opens new window)
Computer-Controlled Machining (opens new window)
Electronics Design (opens new window)
Molding and Casting (opens new window)
Embedded Programming (opens new window)
3d Scanning and Printing (opens new window)
Input Devices (opens new window)
Interface and Application Programming (opens new window)
Mechanical Design (opens new window)
Output Devices (opens new window)
Networking and Communications (opens new window)
Machine Design (opens new window)
Applications and Implications (opens new window)
Project Development (opens new window)
Invention, Intellectual Property, and Income (opens new window)
TIP
Check the Fab Academy content archive for more information: Archive (opens new window)