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Fulton High School opens fabrication lab

Downtown Fulton
KBIA

Last week, Fulton High School cut a ribbon for the only high school Fabrication Lab in Missouri. 

A fabrication lab, or fab lab, for short is a digital workshop. Basically, it’s a room where students can use tools like laser cutters, 3D printers, vinyl graphics cutters and the like.

Fulton High School’s lab opened in September of last year  thanks to a $250,000 grant. Students like senior Sawyer Young have been able to use the fab lab for both personal and school projects.

"The robots are the major accomplishment here," Young said. "But we’ve also done things like build chairs for fundraisers around the school. We’ve done some minor engineering examples." 

Jim Hall, a teacher at Fulton High, says he’s excited about the lab.

"We’re in Mid-Missouri, it doesn’t seem like a lot of neat things happen and then all of a sudden, we can get this grant and from this we’re able to do so many cool things," Hall said. 

Over the next year, the school will prepare to open the lab to the public.

“That’s the fab lab idea," Hall said. "In the third year it’s opened up for more people to use. Trying to stimulate more interest in technology in the community.”

Until then, students of Fulton High School will continue to utilize the machinery for robotics club, engineering class projects, and even etching designs onto their iPhones.  

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