Program
Along with inspiring keynotes and immersive hands-on workshops, the week featured side events & special experiences unique to Boston and MIT, from innovation showcases and lab tours to creative performances and interactive events.
FAB CONFERENCE
The cornerstone of FABx events, the Fab Conference offered a dynamic mix of inspirational keynotes, symposiums, fast talks, and other engaging program formats, along with plenty of networking opportunities. Following the traditional split-day format, mornings brought everyone together in a large venue to inspire conversations about the future of technology, education, community impact, and much more.
FABx Afternoons
Each afternoon at FAB26 offered a dynamic mix of theoretical and hands-on workshops, focus groups, and other engaging program formats. Participants had the opportunity to connect with peers, dive deeper into topics they cared about, and join sessions tailored to their interests. From learning new skills and exploring emerging tools to engaging in thoughtful conversations, the afternoon program was designed to inspire and empower.
FAB Foos
Relaxed, welcoming spaces were designed for meaningful one-on-one conversations, small-group meetups, and spontaneous collaboration. Whether connecting with a speaker, meeting potential collaborators, or continuing a discussion sparked during a session, the lounges offered a comfortable environment to build relationships, exchange ideas, and deepen connections throughout FAB26.
Receptions
FAB26 included evening receptions designed to bring the global FAB community together while experiencing the best of Boston and Cambridge. These social gatherings offered participants a chance to unwind, enjoy light refreshments, exchange ideas, spark new collaborations, and build relationships throughout the week.
FAB FESTIVAL
AUG 1st, 2026 - Open to the Public
The FAB26 Festival brought the energy of the global Fab Lab community across New England, featuring hands-on activities, interactive exhibits, and maker showcases that brought innovation into the heart of the region. Open to all ages, the festival celebrated creativity, community, and the future of making.
SIDE EVENTS
Regenerative Futures: Innovation Challenge
Boston, MA
April and July
🎭 Challenge
Hosted by the MIT pK-12 Initiative and the Fab Foundation, the Regenerative Challenge invited high school students and their teachers or mentors from around the world to develop creative solutions to pressing environmental challenges. Fifteen teams were supported in transforming bold ideas into tangible prototypes through hands-on, iterative design, digital fabrication, and mentorship from the Fab Lab and maker community. Finalists were announced at MIT’s Day of Climate conference in April, and their prototypes were presented at FAB26 Boston in July.
Fab Educators Summit at FAB26
E-15 Building 6th Floor
Sunday, July 26, 2026 - 1:30PM
🎭 Summit
The Fab Educators Summit was a focused, in-person gathering for K–12 teachers, Fab Lab educators, and education leaders exploring how digital fabrication and makerspaces were being used in schools around the world. Building on the success of the virtual Fab Educators Summit, this eduFAB-organized event brought the FAB26 community together through an interactive project gallery, lightning talks, and global perspectives from K–12 classrooms, creating a space to connect, exchange ideas, and learn from real educational experiences.
TOURS
Center for Bits and Atoms
75 Amherst St, Cambridge, MA
July 27-31, 2026
🕠 5-6PM each day
👥 Capacity 20
MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms is an interdisciplinary initiative exploring the boundary between computer science and physical science. CBA studies how to turn data into things, and things into data.
MIT Glass Lab
77 Massachusetts Ave, Building 4, Room 003, Cambridge, MA
July 27 & 28
🕠 5-6PM each day
👥 Capacity 20
We are a hands-on lab, sponsored by DMSE, that teaches extracurricular classes in glass blowing to students across the Institute.
MIT Sea Grant Towing Tank
12 Emily Street, Building NW98, Room 100, Cambridge, MA
July 28
🕠 5-6PM
👥 Capacity 25
High precision towing tank with robotic gantry capable of conducting automated scientific search.
MIT.nano
Lisa T. Su Building, 60 Vassar Street, Bldg 12, Cambridge, MA
July 27 & July 28
🕠 5-6PM
👥 Capacity 15
MIT.nano is MIT's shared facility for nanoscale research and innovation. During a guided tour, you'll learn how MIT.nano supports more than 1,500 researchers across disciplines through various focus facilities including our fabrication lab, characterization, and the immersion lab.
Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel
76 Vassar St, Building 17, Cambridge MA
July 27
🕠 5-6PM
👥 Capacity 12
The Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel is a modern subsonic, continuous-flow, closed-return tunnel with a state-of-the-art test section and custom data collection — the most advanced wind tunnel in U.S. academia.
LIGO
185 Albany St, NW22 & NW17, Cambridge MA
July 27 to July 30
🕠 5-6PM
👥 Capacity 20
The LIGO group is part of the LIGO Laboratory, which, with Caltech, designs and operates two 4 kilometer-scale interferometers that detect gravitational waves originating from various cataclysmic cosmic events such as colliding black holes. The group is engaged in research and development aimed at improving the sensitivity of these detectors.
Autodesk Technology Center, Boston
23 Drydock Ave, The Innovation and Design Building (IDB), Boston, MA
July 27 to July 31
🕠 3-4PM
👥 Capacity 12
The Autodesk Technology Center in Boston is a research and development workspace where Autodesk invites startups, colleges and universities, and industry experts to explore ways to advance the building industry. The Technology Center in Boston focuses on industrialized construction, digital fabrication, automation and robotics in construction, and other ideas that are transforming the built world, including architecture and engineering. Located in Boston’s Seaport Innovation District, the space provides access to large-format fabrication equipment, a wide range of robotics, ample project space, as well as training and expertise from Autodesk personnel.
Ginkgo Bioworks
27 Drydock Avenue, Boston, MA
July 27 to July 31
🕠 5-6PM
👥 Upon Request
The world's largest autonomous biology lab.
