The world's first Fab Lab in a refugee camp - Updated Answers to Questions from Amplify & Experts 6/30/2015

Inspiring space to crowdsource and co-create innovative solutions for basic needs provision: a platform for moonshot humanitarian innovation

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Written by Dave Levin

Updated on 06:22, Jul 02, 2015

An open-source, ultrasonic echolocation device with haptic feedback for the visually impaired with a 3D-printed casing. We co-created this with Ahmad, a Syrian refugee who was shot across the eyes in the war at age 22 and rendered completely blind. Customization of the device for Ahmad is led by another Syrian refugee who learned how to use a 3D printer in 3 weeks and how to code an Arduino in 3 days. The device costs only $31. Ahmad says he hasn't walked like this in 2 years.

An example of a product we made with a 3D printer and Arduino: a prosthetic hand that costs < $75. The open-source Flexy Hand was co-created with the beneficiary, a 6-year-old Yemeni boy treated by Doctor's Without Borders. When asked who his superhero was, he said, "Ben10." A Jordanian mechanical designer based in Fab Lab Barcelona then customized this hand for him, including an embedded computer with animation of Ben10 aliens. We 3D printed this hand with carbon fiber-reinforced co-polyester.

Architectural sketch of Fab Lab Za'atari: our award-winning humanitarian architect is developing a modular design, which allows us to adjust the size as needed. Furthermore, it will be low-cost, built with local materials (e.g., recycled brick, gabion walls, textiles woven by local tribes), easy to dismantle (non-permanent), inspiring and filled with co-working space to facilitate informal knowledge exchange.

Example of the thoughtful and inspirational design by our humanitarian architect: perforated sculpture walls diffuse light and absorb excess heat. The facility will contain a gallery for the community's art and inventions, as well as a courtyard, consistent with traditional Syrian architecture.

Wikihouse: an open-source housing project. We will explore low-cost, open-source, digitally fabricated shelter that can be quickly assembled/disassembled onsite. Since fire is a major issue in Za'atari, we would like to these shelters to have a low-cost, Arduino-based fire detection system that would use a wireless mesh network and internet of things communication protocol to warn surrounding dwellings of fire.

Open-source vehicles: lack of transport is one of the main issues in the camp, particularly for women. Culturally, it is unacceptable for women to use bicycles. With sufficient funding, one of our first projects will be building a vehicle to take women/children to the facility. As one woman told us during our research, “We are walking unbelievable distances and our legs can’t take it anymore. I have an injury in my leg and I can’t walk but I have to walk everywhere.” Za'atari is 18 sq km.

Open-source bicycle: bicycles are currently the main form of transportation in the camp. We aim to empower refugees to make their own bicycles at a lower cost than those available today in the camp. Moreover, this would again reduce the logistics expenses of humanitarian aid -- for instance, a large number of donated bicycles were brought to the camp from Europe recently.

An example of do-it-yourself (DIY) open-source furniture, made with digital fabrication tools such as a computer numerically controlled (CNC) router. Many of the 3,000 shops in Za'atari are practicing carpentry with basic tools and scarce raw materials. Using a CNC reduces the use of raw materials and expedites cutting of dados, rabbets, arches, inlays and 3D relief carvings. In our discussions with carpenters in the camp, the need for CNC routers was clearly evident.

As an immediate example of how digital fabrication tools will enhance self-sufficiency in the camp, we will build the furniture for the lab with the equipment of the lab itself. Being able to download free designs and rapidly fabricate them makes this possible in a short timeframe and reduces logistics costs enormously.

Mini-Farm Grow Box: home-based food production system featuring 3D-printable components posted online for free. The box grows food without electricity or soil. It requires no weeding and uses no pumps, motors or complex parts of any kind. The Grow Box uses about 1/20 the water of conventional agriculture and about half the space of soil gardening.

Open-source, small-scale wind turbine made with a 3D printer: can produce 5V of USB power anywhere. There has been an energy crisis in the camp for 6 months, with little-to-no electricity availability.

Lightscape Pavilion made with a laser cutter, CNC and locally available materials. This is an illustrative example of how we might integrate digital fabrication into urban planning efforts in the camp and empower refugees to make their environment a more enjoyable place to live.

EXPLAIN YOUR IDEA

Photo in Za'atari by a volunteer on our team named Manar Bilal, a Syrian refugee who was a paramedic in the war and saved many lives. Now he is a photographer and videographer, documenting the stories of young Syrian amputees and other refugees.

Aerial view of Za'atari, which has become the 4th largest city in Jordan. Photo by U.S. State Department [Public Domain], via WikiMedia.

DIY, open-source wheelchair that can be built in a Fab Lab. A special course at our lab will focus on training refugees to make solutions for the disabled -- whether for themselves, their friends, their families or others. The co-creation process would involve medical experts, Syrian makers and disabled beneficiaries. Refugees can learn practical skills while contributing to their community, and they can share the solutions globally by publishing them open source.

Za'atari Refugee Camp lies on the Jordanian border with Syria and hosts 83,000 Syrian refugees. Idleness and unemployment are rampant; half of the children do not attend school; and pervasive smiles of resilience belie profound psychological trauma. In Za'atari, we're building an innovative learning environment for educational programs, vocational training, entrepreneurship, informal knowledge exchange and psychological treatment through interactive art. This facility, built with and for the community, will be the world's first digital fabrication lab, or "Fab Lab," in a refugee camp. A Fab Lab is a technical prototyping platform for innovation and invention, sharing common tools with 450 labs across the world -- all affiliated with MIT. Fab Labs provide a platform from which a community’s technical challenges can be shared with this international network, and solutions can be co-created. Fab Lab Za’atari will increase the self-sufficiency of the camp, mitigate the burden on Jordan from hosting the camp and reduce foreign aid dependency, while providing practical/engaging educational opportunities. The idea is scalable to refugee camps and disaster relief sites around the world.

WHO BENEFITS?

As part of our human-centered design process, we conducted a needs assessment and cultural study in Za'atari over two months, led by a Jordanian Professor of Peace & Conflict Studies (anthropology/sociology). She conducted 255 interviews and several focus group discussions and expert interviews. The survey introduced the concept of the lab, including photos of machines. Nearly everyone wants the lab: 89% strongly agree with the need for Fab Lab Za'atari and another 10% agree.

A total of 84% would like to use the lab on at least a weekly basis: 44% want to use the lab every day; 28% want to use the lab 2-3 times per week; and 12% want to use the lab at least once per week

54% of respondents said the lab would have an extremely high impact on their well-being, and an additional 30% said it would have a strong impact on their well-being.

When asked why the lab would have a positive impact on their well-being, refugees provided several reasons: reliable electricity at the lab, access to better tools, training on new tools, an opportunity to serve their community (by helping others learn new skills at the lab and by making solutions for others in the camp), collaborative workspace, support for their businesses and improving self-sufficiency.

An example of primitive woodworking tools used at the camp: a circular saw joined to a table to create a table saw.

An example of furniture that refugees make using primitive tools. Carpenters interviewed strongly expressed the desire for computer numerically controlled (CNC) routers to expedite and improve furniture production in the camp.

An example of a welder making water towers...neither the working conditions nor the final products are necessarily safe. This welder requires more high-powered welding equipment to make a water tower that can safely sustain so much weight.

Welding in the camp

An example of a small workshop in the camp...there are roughly 3,000 shops in Za'atari, many of which are small workshops.

Everyone in the camp can benefit from the Fab Lab. This photo shows one of the many streams of black water running through Za'atari, this one near a vegetable vendor. One of our special courses will focus on creating DIY home sanitation systems with and for those who lack private toilets in the camp. This could reduce the public health risk of sewage runoff for everyone.

The lab will be open to everyone in Za'atari. Our Jordanian and Syrian staff will teach courses ranging from basic safety/usage to advanced instruction on digital and conventional manufacturing tools: 3D printers, laser cutters, CNC routers, electronics, metalworking/woodworking tools, textiles, painting, etc. Special courses will focus on specific challenges: shelter, disabilities, transport, etc. Please see attached user experience map.

PROTOTYPE

3D-printed, open-source Flexy Hand prosthetic that we developed with a young Jordanian amputee. We worked with him to customize the hand according to his interests, and he asked us to design into the hand the logo of Real Madrid, the name and jersey number of Cristiano Ronaldo and his own name in Arabic.

Finger replacement prosthetic we made for a 13-year-old Syrian triple amputee: he lost two legs above the knee, one eye and several fingers in a bomb attack in Southern Syria. An early prototype, the prosthetic is still in further development. We've been working with Ivan Owen, one of the original inventors of 3D-printed prostheses, on this difficult technical challenge.

Initial rendering of our glove/body-powered prosthetic hand, made with a combination of 3D-printed flexible and non-flexible materials. R&D of this open-source hand is being led by Lana Awad, a Jordanian Mechanical/Interactive Designer at Fab Lab Barcelona. Based on our experience working with a number of female and male amputees of all ages from across the Middle East, Lana is developing a design that is culturally suitable for the region, e.g., anthropomorphic and skin colored.

We are designing our hand to work for partial hand amputations of various types, as there is quite a diversity of traumatic injuries to treat in Jordan as a result of the Syrian, Yemeni, Iraqi and Libyan conflicts.

This is an excellent, illustrative example of a solution for the disabled designed with and for an amputee on our team. Asem has a prosthetic leg, and the foot has a rubber piece that costs ~$35 and must be replaced every 6 months. Asem designed a 3D-printed replacement made of a flexible polymer. It took 2 minutes to design and 2 hours to print, and it costs <$1.50. Without this piece, he can't walk.

Our Creative Director is one of the leading 3D artists in Jordan. Here he sketched out what Ahmad's echolocation device will look like as a final product.

Syrian refugee on our team training Jordanian prosthetists on 3D printing and 3D design software.

3Dmena Academy: free, intermediate-level courses on 3D design software in Amman open to anyone in Jordan.

Lana Awad, a Jordanian Mechanical Designer on our team, built a robotic camera connected to a virtual reality device. The camera was placed on one woman and the virtual reality device on another woman confined to a wheelchair. Through a choreographed dance, the woman in the wheelchair could experience what it's like to dance. This is an example of the type of psychological treatment through interactive art that Fab Lab Za'atari will enable us to provide.

We have ongoing initiatives across 3 areas of activity:

1) Research & Development: we co-created 3D-printed prosthetic hands with a Yemeni child and a Jordanian boy, and we're further developing a finger replacement model for a 13-year-old Syrian refugee who lost both legs, an eye and several fingers. We also co-created an echolocation device with a blind Syrian refugee, and we're using a human-centered design approach to create a new open-source 3D-printed prosthetic that will be culturally appropriate in the Middle East.

2) Training on Digital Fabrication Tools: for example we trained Asem, a Syrian refugee/amputee who lost his leg as a paramedic in the war, on 3D printing/coding. He then trained Jordanian prosthetists at the largest prosthetics clinic in Jordan on using 3D printers/software. We also run a 3D design education program in Amman that is free and open to anyone in Jordan.

3) We established a small makerspace in Amman (1.5 hours from Za'atari) for training/R&D

FEEDBACK

One of the core objectives of our field research was to determine how to build the lab such that female participation and ownership are maximized. One of the first steps was to identify what vocational skills women are practicing today in the camp. Nearly all are involved in textiles, and so our lab will have industrial sewing machines, digital embroidery and conventional textile machines. In a broader sense, we're using our research to ensure that we only buy machines that will be heavily used.

For cultural reasons, access to the lab must be divided according to gender. Over 60% want to have two different facilities for men and women. The alternative would be to divide access according to certain times of the day or certain days of the week. Unfortunately, doing so would complicate and reduce access for some refugees. There were no universal days/times that worked for all women or all men. We hope to raise enough funding to support two labs, in order to maximize access for all.

Nearly three quarters of the women interviewed said they will need a solution for childcare in order to use the facility. We hope to raise sufficient funding to provide a childcare facility onsite, with courses dedicated to teaching technology and creative arts, e.g., educational robots, low-cost virtual reality interfaces.

All of our ideas go through a co-creation process with beneficiaries, their families and relevant experts. For instance, the 3D-printed prosthetic hand for the Yemeni boy was made and refined (and continues to be refined) with the boy himself, who asked for a Ben10 design, and with Doctors Without Borders. The ultrasonic navigation device is being refined according to the feedback we get from Ahmad on the aesthetic and functional parameters (e.g., stronger haptic feedback at a shorter distance to objects in front of him).

The results of the focus group discussions on Fab Lab Za'atari were overwhelmingly positive. The need for more and better tools was heavily emphasised by survey respondents, one of whom said, “There are many tools in the camp. But these are primitive. We started from scratch here. It is all handmade primitive tools that refugees made to manage their needs and daily lives. Now the camp is developing, and we can make more tools as we need in the facility.”

HOW IS THIS IDEA DIFFERENT FROM WHAT YOUR ORGANIZATION (OR OTHER ORGANIZATIONS) IS ALREADY DOING?

We're building the world's first digital fabrication lab (Fab Lab) in a refugee camp, with the support of Prof. Neil Gershenfeld, who founded the Fab Lab concept at MIT, and the leadership of the Fab Foundation and Fab Lab Barcelona. While 3D printers are important, it is critical to have a full suite of digital manufacturing tools like CNC routers, laser cutters and milling machines. In combination with conventional power tools, refugees will be able to rapidly prototype nearly any solution.

The long-term vision is to create a Google X for the humanitarian sector: a network of makerspaces in conflict zones in which refugees and open-source communities co-create the impossible.

HOW WOULD YOU USE AMPLIFY FUNDING AND DESIGN SUPPORT?

The full suite of digital fabrication equipment and materials to start a Fab Lab costs roughly $150,000. This includes a CNC router, milling machine, laser cutter, 3D scanner, oscilloscope, teleconference equipment, audio/visual equipment, electronics components, sensors, actuators, servo motors, molding/casting, safety equipment, computers and starter materials. We would add another $50,000 for conventional tools, such as welding, saws, lathes, drills, clamps, etc. We have a donor willing to match Amplify's contribution. With a $100,000 grant, we would thus cover the costs of all tools/equipment ($200,000). Please see attached for how we will benefit from design support.

HOW DOES YOUR IDEA TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE CONTEXT OF THE CHALLENGE?

The Fab Lab is an idea that can be implemented immediately and have immediate impact. There are 450 of such community education centers around the world, though none in a refugee camp, where we believe such a facility could have the most impact. The lab will benefit both males and females. In fact, more women (47%) said the lab would have an "extremely high impact" on self-sufficiency than men (30%). Everything about the facility, including male-female access hours, machine selection, access to day care and transportation are being designed maximize the participation of females. We are also building several labs for host communities in Jordan, and making Amman a regional Fab training hub.

SKILL SHARE (optional)

We need experts in human-centered design/ecosystem design. Based on our research, we believe a major challenge will be the huge demand for the lab and the need to regulate access fairly. The politics within the camp are complicated, and getting this right is a huge social design challenge. Moreover, an economist and social designer are needed to help us minimize any negative impacts on the extant economy in the camp. Other needs: graphic designer, hardware/software engineers, crowdfunding expert

TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF

Loay Malahmeh, President of 3Dmena Social Innovation, presenting our work to His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan and Her Majesty Queen Rania.

News story on our work by France 24 TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSFL2aS6tow

Jordan national TV with HM Queen Rania (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rlkJem1oBg&feature=youtu.be)

Refugee Open Ware is a global humanitarian innovation consortium. We've been operational in Amman for ~1 year and have a team of 20 (mostly volunteers) across the world. ROW builds physical platforms for open innovation in conflict-affected areas, while driving economic growth for host countries.

IS THIS AN IDEA THAT YOU OR YOUR ORGANIZATION WOULD LIKE TO TAKE FORWARD?

Yes, I have implementation capacity and am interested in and able to make this idea real in my community.

Written by

Dave Levin

Team (12)

Dave Levin

Tony Canning

Role added on team:

"Director of R&D and Training -- Fab Academy Guru"

Barry Purves

Role added on team:

"Fundraising and Strategic Alliances"

Loay Malahmeh

Role added on team:

"Founding Partner; President, 3Dmena Social Innovation"

Rakan Khamash

Role added on team:

"Creative Director -- one of Jordan's leading 3D artists"

Adam Arabian

Role added on team:

"Technical Director -- Ph.D. P.E., a professor of mechanical engineering and former Director of Research and Development for Orthocare Innovations, a global leader in high-technology prosthetics development. He was previously lead engineer for the $60 million DARPA-funded “Revolutionizing Prosthetics” program, where he led a global innovation team to the development of what was at the time the most advanced prosthetic arm ever created."

Lana Awad

Role added on team:

"Artistic Director, Mechanical & Interactive Designer, and Architect, based at Fab Lab Barcelona"

Asem Hasna

Role added on team:

"Volunteer Assistant Prosthetist, 3D Printing Technician and Trainer on 3D Printing/Modelling -- Former Ambulance Driver / Paramedic in the Syrian Conflict"

Mnary Bilal

Role added on team:

"Volunteer Photographer and Videographer -- Former Ambulance Driver / Paramedic in the Syrian Conflict"

Hunmin Koh

Role added on team:

"Technical Genius, Senior R&D Specialist"

Jai Mexis

Role added on team:

"Humanitarian Architect"

Aleksandra Pronina

Role added on team:

"Graphic Designer, Fundraising and Strategic Alliances with European Art Community"