Fablab Zoi

Av. de los Shyris and Suecia, Quito, Pichincha, 170522, Ecuador

Fab Lab

Space size 80 m²

Opened in September 2014

Structure type Private company

Explored in August 2018


Our goal is to empower people with knowledge and technology to make this world a better place to live. We aim to support education, investigation and technological development. We can help you to make your ideas reality using design and projects management, prototyping, digital fabrication, mentoring and financial programs. As well we believe in Network Collaboration Projects : we are supported by Latin-American Fab Lat Network and our objective is to continue building Ecuador Network.

Contact

Social networks

Main interests

Technology - machines & tools Social initiatives Community Entrepreneurship Robotics Glass arts & techniques Industry & innovation Hacking Education Design Science & biology Art & culture Architecture Craftsmanship

This workshop is great for:

Teachers Artists General public Entrepreneurs Craftsmen Small & medium businesses Public organisations Non-profit organisations Seniors Students Makers pro Kids under 12 Adolescents between 12-18 Farmers Large companies Schools & universities

We are hiring ! Join our team to contribute to the Ecuador future ;-)

We are looking for a programmer to complete our dream team.

  • If you want to participate to projects and investigations of technology development with a diversity of users (engineers, architects, artists, hobbyst, students, association, companies),
  • If you want to work in a great atmosphere,
  • If you want to participate to the grow of the maker community,
  • If you want to learn new skills,

Join us !! You won’t regret it ;-)

Our workshop

Learn more about our space, members, machines & services!

The secret of this space lies in its name. Zoi is inspired by “Soy”, “I am” in Spanish and from its origin “Zôè”, “Life” in Greek : in this space, your actions (or life) define who you are. If Roberto Gallo’s curiosity for 3D technology opened him the door of the maker mouvement, the creation of his makerspace, the Fablab Zoi, was the result of a 4 years of search for meaning to build a space where technology is as important as personal development.

The first stone of this project started with his own development. In 2014, few months after creating an opened space which gathered a community of 3D printing users, this designer, who used to analyze people need and use, had the feeling of missing something essential. When the Cuidad Yachay, a comprehensive ecosystem of innovation and technology, knocked at his door to offer him a grant with the FabConnect program to follow the Fab Academy course while being part of the first Fablab in Ecuador, he seized the opportunity to develop both his technical skills and experience.

Being part of the first maker team in Ecuador was a tough challenge : he had to learn the machines use and the programmation by himself while helping the lab to attract and support users. Exalted by this experience and rewarded by the Fab Academy, he pursued his training by taking the second session of the Bio Academy dedicated to the biology. After learning “How to make (almost) anything”, he learnt “How to grow (almost) anything”. In one intense year, he developed comprehensive technical skills, a strong network and a great maker experience but above all he found what we was looking for : the confidence to manage a Fablab and the mission to fulfill in his own space.

Since December 2017, he made his project come true in the ideal place : the Torno co-working space which gathers start-ups (architects, media, artists, …) to create together and with Quito ecosystem a positive social impact. To meet the increasing number of projects, the next step for him will be to consolidate his new team to support the users while contributing to external projects such as the creation of a collaborative maker space for craftmen. For this founder, the future of this place will be linked to the local and national maker community which can rely on Fablab Zoi to grow and strengthen its connections.

Respect, efficiency and transparency are the space core values which linked the 6 team members.

  • the respect, for other people and for the values of the lab, is essential for this team working without hierarchy to create a good atmosphere and to make good decisions
  • the efficiency, based on priorities and impact in their actions, is their key value to reach an economic sustainability
  • the transparency in their communication is essential to maintain confidence among their team and community and to make them grow together

Among the team, you can find Roberto Gallo, the funder, and his sister, Diana Gallo, the 2 associates. If Roberto started to create the Fablab alone, he was soon joined by his sister whose skills are complementary. If his Fab Academy instruction enables him to teach digital fabrication, he is also in charge of the business development. Diana handles the accounting while helping him to develop the team and community spirit thanks to her psychology diploma. Fabio Lopez, former member of the Fab Foundation, completed the original team by helping them punctually on social and large-scale projects.

5 months after of the opening, the increasing number of projects gave them the opportunity to hire a new members:

  • Alex Tocagón : this mechanical engineer is the fabmanager and his technical training with Fab academy made him capable of making any type of projects
  • Andre Pieto : his design and digital fabrication made him a valuable asset to guide users from their idea to the project design
  • Valeria León : right-hand woman of Roberto for the business development, she is also in charge of the communication and events organisation

The role of each member is not fixed. Roberto, who played the role of coach, guides them through the daily activities to develop their skills and to adapt their position to their preference while looking for efficiency.

“People come by curiosity o because they are looking for skills to make a project”.

In only few months, the Fablab Zoi succeeded to attract a diversity of profiles and types of project. Here you can find each week 10 regular users and each month 25 punctual ones such as engineers, architects, artists, hobbyst, students, association, members of Torno or big companies. If the Fablab works on investigation project such as the one for Republica del cacao who asked them to develop a controlled chamber to grow Cacao in Quito, they also guide users with smaller projects such as data transmission. To empower users and make them discover digital fabrication, they frequently invite members of their community to dedicated workshops through WhatsApp. The word of mouth naturally completes workshop sessions with new faces.

To attract users, the team can rely on Roberto Gallo strong network. His appetite for challenges and his designer sensibility enables him to convince people to trust his team to tackle new valuable projects. The experience he designed, by guiding user making the right project (design thinking,…) while learning new skills, make the users come back or recommend the lab to their contacts. He also offers them free materials thanks to partnerships with providers (Trotec, …), financial support with bank alliance and contacts with start-ups, companies and public entities.

To bloom this recent community and to connect it to the national red, maker events such as Fabatom are organized to offer to Equadorian makers the opportunity to share and communicate about their projets. The public entities (Fab Foundation, Conquito, MIC, Impaqto or Universities) linked to the lab are great allies to organize such events and the lab involvement in the LATAM maker red with projects such as Fablat TV is key to spread the maker spirit.

And it is just the beginning! If the Fablab aims to play a key role to gather and strengthen the maker community in Ecuador, it is also in discussion with Peru to build a shared lab at the Ecuador/Peru border. A great example of the limitless maker spirit ;-)

6 months after its creation, the Fablab reached the breakeven and started to make benefits. The secret of this success lies in strong and diversified alliances and an organic development.

At its creation, Roberto Gallo didn’t have enough savings to buy the 40 000$ machines which are now in the lab. Thus, he looked not only for a space but also for machines to rent. He found the perfect mix in Torno coworking space, where he offered to a previous tenant of an unsuccessful business based on laser cutter to rent his studio and his machine. Its ideal location and the network of Roberto attracted people and projects with only 3D printer and laser cutter. 3 months latter, Torno members offered him to buy a CNC machine to help them making furnitures for one of their client. He also signed partnerships with material and electronic providers (Trotec, Estratasis, Pelicano, Autodesk, Rhinoceros) to cover part of his daily costs.

To make profit, he tried different strategies. He first started with workshops and Fab academy courses but he soon realized that the incomes are smaller than the real costs if the number of participants are not sufficient. Even if it doesn’t provide sufficient incomes to start a makerspace, it stands for a good investment to attract people and develop a maker red. In fact, the LATAM and Ecuadorian red was for him a precious asset to quickly find solutions to his client projets. It enabled him to start earning money with small and medium projects but what make the difference was the big projects and investigations with companies. He also started buying large quantity of components, inexistent in the country, to sell them to the Ecuadorian makers.

All the benefits were invested to grow the space according to the needs (meeting space, …) and to hire new members. The next step will be to sign long-term contracts with universities (training, space creation) and companies (investigation, machine designs) to ensure a fixed income.

The secret of this space lies in its name. Zoi is inspired by “Soy”, “I am” in Spanish and from its origin “Zôè”, “Life” in Greek : in this space, your actions (or life) define who you are. If Roberto Gallo’s curiosity for 3D technology opened him the door of the maker mouvement, the creation of his makerspace, the Fablab Zoi, was the result of a 4 years of search for meaning to build a space where technology is as important as personal development.

The first stone of this project started with his own development. In 2014, few months after creating an opened space which gathered a community of 3D printing users, this designer, who used to analyze people need and use, had the feeling of missing something essential. When the Cuidad Yachay, a comprehensive ecosystem of innovation and technology, knocked at his door to offer him a grant with the FabConnect program to follow the Fab Academy course while being part of the first Fablab in Ecuador, he seized the opportunity to develop both his technical skills and experience.

Being part of the first maker team in Ecuador was a tough challenge : he had to learn the machines use and the programmation by himself while helping the lab to attract and support users. Exalted by this experience and rewarded by the Fab Academy, he pursued his training by taking the second session of the Bio Academy dedicated to the biology. After learning “How to make (almost) anything”, he learnt “How to grow (almost) anything”. In one intense year, he developed comprehensive technical skills, a strong network and a great maker experience but above all he found what we was looking for : the confidence to manage a Fablab and the mission to fulfill in his own space.

Since December 2017, he made his project come true in the ideal place : the Torno co-working space which gathers start-ups (architects, media, artists, …) to create together and with Quito ecosystem a positive social impact. To meet the increasing number of projects, the next step for him will be to consolidate his new team to support the users while contributing to external projects such as the creation of a collaborative maker space for craftmen. For this founder, the future of this place will be linked to the local and national maker community which can rely on Fablab Zoi to grow and strengthen its connections.

Respect, efficiency and transparency are the space core values which linked the 6 team members.

  • the respect, for other people and for the values of the lab, is essential for this team working without hierarchy to create a good atmosphere and to make good decisions
  • the efficiency, based on priorities and impact in their actions, is their key value to reach an economic sustainability
  • the transparency in their communication is essential to maintain confidence among their team and community and to make them grow together

Among the team, you can find Roberto Gallo, the funder, and his sister, Diana Gallo, the 2 associates. If Roberto started to create the Fablab alone, he was soon joined by his sister whose skills are complementary. If his Fab Academy instruction enables him to teach digital fabrication, he is also in charge of the business development. Diana handles the accounting while helping him to develop the team and community spirit thanks to her psychology diploma. Fabio Lopez, former member of the Fab Foundation, completed the original team by helping them punctually on social and large-scale projects.

5 months after of the opening, the increasing number of projects gave them the opportunity to hire a new members:

  • Alex Tocagón : this mechanical engineer is the fabmanager and his technical training with Fab academy made him capable of making any type of projects
  • Andre Pieto : his design and digital fabrication made him a valuable asset to guide users from their idea to the project design
  • Valeria León : right-hand woman of Roberto for the business development, she is also in charge of the communication and events organisation

The role of each member is not fixed. Roberto, who played the role of coach, guides them through the daily activities to develop their skills and to adapt their position to their preference while looking for efficiency.

“People come by curiosity o because they are looking for skills to make a project”.

In only few months, the Fablab Zoi succeeded to attract a diversity of profiles and types of project. Here you can find each week 10 regular users and each month 25 punctual ones such as engineers, architects, artists, hobbyst, students, association, members of Torno or big companies. If the Fablab works on investigation project such as the one for Republica del cacao who asked them to develop a controlled chamber to grow Cacao in Quito, they also guide users with smaller projects such as data transmission. To empower users and make them discover digital fabrication, they frequently invite members of their community to dedicated workshops through WhatsApp. The word of mouth naturally completes workshop sessions with new faces.

To attract users, the team can rely on Roberto Gallo strong network. His appetite for challenges and his designer sensibility enables him to convince people to trust his team to tackle new valuable projects. The experience he designed, by guiding user making the right project (design thinking,…) while learning new skills, make the users come back or recommend the lab to their contacts. He also offers them free materials thanks to partnerships with providers (Trotec, …), financial support with bank alliance and contacts with start-ups, companies and public entities.

To bloom this recent community and to connect it to the national red, maker events such as Fabatom are organized to offer to Equadorian makers the opportunity to share and communicate about their projets. The public entities (Fab Foundation, Conquito, MIC, Impaqto or Universities) linked to the lab are great allies to organize such events and the lab involvement in the LATAM maker red with projects such as Fablat TV is key to spread the maker spirit.

And it is just the beginning! If the Fablab aims to play a key role to gather and strengthen the maker community in Ecuador, it is also in discussion with Peru to build a shared lab at the Ecuador/Peru border. A great example of the limitless maker spirit ;-)

6 months after its creation, the Fablab reached the breakeven and started to make benefits. The secret of this success lies in strong and diversified alliances and an organic development.

At its creation, Roberto Gallo didn’t have enough savings to buy the 40 000$ machines which are now in the lab. Thus, he looked not only for a space but also for machines to rent. He found the perfect mix in Torno coworking space, where he offered to a previous tenant of an unsuccessful business based on laser cutter to rent his studio and his machine. Its ideal location and the network of Roberto attracted people and projects with only 3D printer and laser cutter. 3 months latter, Torno members offered him to buy a CNC machine to help them making furnitures for one of their client. He also signed partnerships with material and electronic providers (Trotec, Estratasis, Pelicano, Autodesk, Rhinoceros) to cover part of his daily costs.

To make profit, he tried different strategies. He first started with workshops and Fab academy courses but he soon realized that the incomes are smaller than the real costs if the number of participants are not sufficient. Even if it doesn’t provide sufficient incomes to start a makerspace, it stands for a good investment to attract people and develop a maker red. In fact, the LATAM and Ecuadorian red was for him a precious asset to quickly find solutions to his client projets. It enabled him to start earning money with small and medium projects but what make the difference was the big projects and investigations with companies. He also started buying large quantity of components, inexistent in the country, to sell them to the Ecuadorian makers.

All the benefits were invested to grow the space according to the needs (meeting space, …) and to hire new members. The next step will be to sign long-term contracts with universities (training, space creation) and companies (investigation, machine designs) to ensure a fixed income.

Machines & tools available

Ultimaker 2 3d printer CNC milling Router 2440x1220mm Lazer cutting Bodor 1800x1000mm 3D printer Ultimaker original (Extended) 3D printer Monoprice maker select CNC milling Router 150x300mm soldering station

Technologies & processes available

CNC milling Laser cutting 3D printing

Services offered

Design missions R&D missions Education missions Community center Talks & conferences Startups & projects incubation / mentoring Projects & sprints sessions FabAcademy curriculum BioAcademy curriculum Pay-as-you-go machines & tools access Open moments Prototyping Creativity sessions

Our best practices

The inspiring things we do here to run our collaborative space

Organic space development

  • What is it?

It is a strategy in the creation of the makerspace which consists in starting with the minimum resources in term of space, machines, and employees to progressively grow according to the demand.

  • In concrete terms?

When Fablab Zoi opened in December 2017, they only have 20m2 with a 3D printer and a laser cutter managed by the fab manager and his sister. The team increased the surface rented only when they had the opportunity to buy a CNC machine to answer a specific client request. Then, with the Fabacademy incomes, they increased the surface by building a second stage to offer to students a place for the theoretical courses. With the increase of the projects, the employees were hired to fit the client’s demand. Then, the space expansion was also necessary for the team and client meetings.

  • Why it’s interesting?

This progressive resource expansion enables to adjust the cost with the income to reach more quickly the breakeven. It is also a good way of investing only in useful resources to ensure a return on investment.


Our makers projects

Get inspired by the DIY projects of our team & members

TeleKIT

Q is a freedom activist who loves exploring new technologies with the purpose to make everyone free to choose how to communicate, how to consume and live without any dependence on centralized power!

Q is not from England and we are not talking about the director of the research and development department of the MI6. Quiliro Ordonez is Ecuadorian and a « citizen of the World ».

Quiliro’s project is « TeleKIT », a decentralized physical and numerical network with local nodes of laser transmitter/receptor to communicate and build the « True InterNet »

It is a replica of the Tetrapolis from the RONJA project started in 2006. « Ronja is a free technology project for reliable optical data links with a current range of 1.4km and a communication speed of 10Mbps full duplex »


Bits and Atoms Pen

BAP is a complete tool to express, design and fabricate your ideas. With it, anyone can use digital fabrication (3D printer, laser cutter, milling machines) without knowledge in programming. Just draw your idea with this pen and get the physical object made with the linked machine. The pen translates your move in digital file (“from bits”) sent to the machine to make your 3D drawing come true by shaping material (“to atoms”).


Bamboo computing

It’s a large-scale demonstrator, located in the Science and Interactive Museum (MIC) (www.museo-ciencia.gob.ec) for a 3 months exhibition, aiming to open a discussion regarding adaptive lightweight structures and its role in the sustainable development of our building environment.


CHASQUI - Assistive device for blind people

Chasqui is a low-cost (50$) and interactive stick to guide blind people from a place to another place. It consists of a GPS embedded in the handle with 2 motors, one in the left side and one in the right side, which vibrate to indicate to the user to go either in the left or right direction. The handle is also equipped with buttons so that the user can ask for information on his position.


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