RUB-Makerspace at Ruhr University Bochum is a FabLab covering over 2,000 m² in the O-Werk on the former Opel site in Bochum. With nine different workshops and laboratories, it offers a unique infrastructure for putting ideas into practice, testing technologies and developing innovative prototypes.
RUB-Makerspace brings together various workshop and technology areas, including CNC machining, 3D printing, laser cutting, wood and metal workshops, electronics, ceramics, (precious) plastics, media, food processing and textile processing. The technical infrastructure is complemented by training courses, workshops, events and interdisciplinary projects.
As an open facility, RUB-Makerspace is aimed at students, researchers, start-up founders, businesses, creative professionals, civil society and anyone else who is interested in making. It provides easy access to technology, promotes practical skills and brings together people from different disciplines and backgrounds.
RUB-Makerspace sees itself as a key player in a regional innovation ecosystem in the Ruhr region. Through partnerships with universities, businesses, local authorities and community initiatives, it promotes knowledge transfer, sustainable production and regional value creation. In the long term, it aims to act as a key player within a networked ‘FabRegion Ruhr’, driving the development of the Ruhr region into an internationally recognised model region for making, open innovation and decentralised production.
In this way, RUB-Makerspace combines technical infrastructure with education, research, entrepreneurship and social participation. As an open space for experimentation and interaction, it creates the conditions for knowledge to be turned into practical applications, ideas into innovations, and encounters into new collaborations.