Makerby Curiosta

Curriculum

What does finished look like, module by module?

An unofficial companion to the Fab Academy curriculum. For each of the 19 modules: what the official assignment asks for, and what bare-minimum and exceptional work could look like, so you finish the course knowing the difference.

Unofficial companion

This site is not affiliated with, endorsed by or part of Fab Academy or the Fab Foundation. Official requirements, deadlines and grading are on fabacademy.org and with your instructor and lab. Bare-minimum and exceptional criteria here are the author's interpretation, not official grading.

How to read the module pages

Official assignment
Paraphrased closely from the Fab Academy 2026 class pages, with a link to each source. Retrieved 24 Oct 2026.
Bare-minimum
The author's reading of the least you should show for the assignment to be clearly met and documented.
Exceptional
The author's reading of what going further looks like, beyond the official extras.
TBC
To be confirmed: no worked rubric has been written for this module yet. Only electronics design, embedded programming, and 3D scanning and printing have one so far.

The 19 modules

Order and lecture dates follow the Fab Academy 2026 cohort schedule (fabacademy.org/2026/schedule.html, retrieved 24 Oct 2026). Dates change every year and a later cohort's schedule was not published when this was written, so check the current schedule.

  1. MODULE 01Principles and practices2026 cohort lecture: 21 Jan 2026Rubric: TBC
  2. MODULE 02Project management2026 cohort lecture: 21 Jan 2026Rubric: TBC
  3. MODULE 03Computer-aided design2026 cohort lecture: 28 Jan 2026Rubric: TBC
  4. MODULE 04Computer-controlled cutting2026 cohort lecture: 4 Feb 2026Rubric: TBC
  5. MODULE 05Embedded programming2026 cohort lecture: 11 Feb 2026Worked rubric
  6. MODULE 063D scanning and printing2026 cohort lecture: 18 Feb 2026Worked rubric
  7. MODULE 07Electronics design2026 cohort lecture: 25 Feb 2026Worked rubric
  8. MODULE 08Computer-controlled machining2026 cohort lecture: 4 Mar 2026Rubric: TBC
  9. MODULE 09Electronics production2026 cohort lecture: 11 Mar 2026Rubric: TBC
  10. MODULE 10Input devices2026 cohort lecture: 18 Mar 2026Rubric: TBC
  11. MODULE 11Output devices2026 cohort lecture: 25 Mar 2026Rubric: TBC
  12. MODULE 12Networking and communications2026 cohort lecture: 1 Apr 2026Rubric: TBC
  13. MODULE 13Mechanical design and machine design2026 cohort lecture: 8 Apr 2026Rubric: TBC
  14. MODULE 14Molding and casting2026 cohort lecture: 22 Apr 2026Rubric: TBC
  15. MODULE 15Interface and application programming2026 cohort lecture: 29 Apr 2026Rubric: TBC
  16. MODULE 16System integration2026 cohort lecture: 6 May 2026Rubric: TBC
  17. MODULE 17Wildcard week2026 cohort lecture: 13 May 2026Rubric: TBC
  18. MODULE 18Applications and implications, project development2026 cohort lecture: 20 May 2026Rubric: TBC
  19. MODULE 19Invention, intellectual property and income2026 cohort lecture: 27 May 2026Rubric: TBC

Returning students

Coming back after a break

Life happens. If you paused the course and want to pick it up again, here is a calm order of work. These steps are the author's suggestions for getting your bearings, not official Fab Academy policy. What your lab and instructor accept is their decision.

  1. Find out what applies to you

    This site cannot tell you what your lab or instructor will accept after a break, or what your deadlines are. Ask your instructor or lab, and keep their answer in your own notes.

  2. Use the current cohort's pages

    Fab Academy publishes its schedule and class pages per year. Assignments can change between years, so check the current year's pages on fabacademy.org before you rely on notes from an earlier cohort, including the dates and wording on this site, which come from the 2026 cohort.

  3. Take stock of what you already have

    Open your documentation site and repository and list, module by module, what exists and what is missing. Read each official assignment bullet on the module pages here and note which one has evidence and which does not.

  4. Check your tools still work

    Make sure you can still log in, commit and publish your documentation, and that your software and files open. Fix this first, because everything else depends on it.

  5. Order the remaining work

    As a suggestion (the author's, not an official rule): finish the modules that your final project depends on first. Electronics design, electronics production, input devices, output devices, networking and interface work build on each other, and system integration needs all of them.

  6. Document the gap honestly

    Say what you did and when, including the break. Your documentation is for readers who were not there, and an honest timeline is more useful to them than a tidy one.

  7. Re-plan your final project

    Read the final project requirements on the applications and implications page, and check that your plan still fits the time you have. Cutting scope early is better than cutting corners late.

Ask the tutor where to start

2026 cohort calendar notes

From the official schedule. Recitations are separate Monday sessions and are not assignment modules.

DateRecitation
26 Jan 2026Version control
9 Feb 2026Programming and debugging
23 Feb 2026AI
9 Mar 2026Sustainability
23 Mar 2026Machine building
13 Apr 2026Fab ecosystem
27 Apr 2026Education
11 May 2026Fab All-In
25 May 2026Start-ups
  • 19-20 Jan 2026: student bootcamp.
  • 15 Apr 2026: break, midterm review.
  • 8-12 Jun 2026: final project presentations.
  • 27-31 Jul 2026: FAB26.

Sources

Fab Academy content belongs to its authors. This page paraphrases assignment headings for orientation only and always links to the official page.