By Zach Winn

Reindustrializing America will require action from not only businesses but also a new wave of people that have the skills, experience, and drive to make things. While many efforts in this area have focused on top-down education and manufacturing initiatives, an organic, grassroots movement has been inspiring a new generation of makers across America for the last 20 years.

The first fab lab was started in 2002 by MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA). To teach students to use the digital fabrication research facility, CBA’s leaders began teaching a rapid-prototyping class called MAS.863 (How To Make (almost) Anything). In response to overwhelming demand, CBA collaborated with civil rights activist and MIT adjunct professor Mel King to create a community-scale version of the lab, integrating tools for 3D printing and scanning, laser cutting, precision and large-format machining, molding and casting, and surface-mount electronics, as well as design software.

That was supposed to be the end of the story; they didn’t expect a maker movement. Then another community reached out to get help building their own fab lab. Then another. Today there are hundreds of U.S. fab labs, in nearly every state, in locations ranging from community college campuses to Main Street. The fab labs offer open access to tools and software, as well as education, training, and community to people from all backgrounds.