Category Archives: Making of

Amazing Lab, v1.0

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Let’s celebrate! We reached the minimum operational capability within the E4.6 classroom. 

Let’s call it “Amazing Lab, v1.0”, shall we?

The starting point
Dismantling the old classroom tables
These served us well
Next stop, classroom E4.4…
..but we’ll keep one
Reusing the old workbench table top
Looks nice!
The first hardware batch has arrived

Work in progress, #5 – about friends and ideas

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…this is what the Amazing Lab is all about!

“Let’s empty the drawers and clean them, these workbenches are for you to take to the lab”.

Once upon a time, there was a couple of workbenches on someone’s lab, but not anymore!

Our good friend, Professor Licínio Roque, decided these would be just perfect for the Amazing Lab. So, just guess what he did?

Big and heavy
Almooooost….
Finally in place

Work in progress, #4 – “barn” finds

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Our department has its own share of secrets. Look what we found!

Modern benches, on one of the CMS laboratories
There are two of these!
No way! A FACOM cabinet from the 90s! Almost brand new!

Sustainability is one of the key aspects of the Amazing Lab mission statement.

Recycle, reuse and repurpose – that’s we way we do things!

Thanks to our Department’s director, we found a way to reuse the FACOM cabinet. Guess this is what friends are for. A big “thank you” to Professor Edmundo Monteiro!

Work in progress, #3 – reviving the old bench

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Armed with a list of items and good intentions, we went shopping. 

One thing we know, for sure: Bruno’s wood skills are definitely the best!

Bruno got a special vehicle for the task
We also needed that other “vehicle”
Lots of wood.
Guess what it is for?
Does it look nice?
Definitely nice.
Sanding.
First panels being assembled
Now, the shelves
Sawing
More shelves
…and more still
An experiment
Varnishing the door panels
Cuteness overload
Forget the doors! Practicality comes first.
The final product
From old and ugly to cute and practical

Stay tuned for more updates!

Work in progress, #2

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We decided to repurpose an old bench from the 1980s, that was used before our department existed – part of our history ! This tired piece of furniture showed lots of promise…

Tiago is definitely an handyman – from sanding to painting, he can do almost almost anything!

Old and tired
Disassembling panels
Panels out, #1
Panels out, #2
Sanding panels
Cleaning the structure
Cleaning the structure
Sawing metal, the hard way
Painting time!
Hey, it looks nice!
Lots of work. Lots of fun.

We are not yet sure how the final thing will look. Stay tuned for more updates!

Work in progress, #1

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Ideas are coming together, and the dream is starting to take shape.

Taking stuff apart

A vintage find, but difficult to move.

Creativity moves mountains. And furniture too…

Will it fit?

Stay tuned for future developments!

Chapter I: Let there be light

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On this day, the Amazing Lab project was announced as one of the winners of the Feedzai First Foundation award. This endorsement will allow us to develop our vision. From now on, we will be working towards making the Amazing Lab a reality, for the Department’s community.

For the sake of our collective creative power and for the benefit of all of us.