By Express News Service KOCHI: Kerala will now play a pivotal role in fulfilling India’s dream of manufacturing things at home with the ‘super fab lab’ at Integrated Startup Complex (ISC) at Kalamassery going operational.“Startups, researchers and scholars from the state and the country will be able to make machines and tools they require to set their businesses rolling,” said Neil Gershenfeld, director of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms, who was in the city to help set up the facility. Neil said India could achieve the ‘Made in India’ tag only if products were really manufactured here. “Instead, the government is right now bringing in multinational corporations from outside to manufacture their products in India. This won’t help the local community or people,” he said. He said a lot of money can be saved by producing machine parts, tools and other products locally, instead of having to pay big bucks to source them from outside. The money thus saved can be used for the good of society, he said. He said MIT was ready to tie up with Kerala Startup Mission towards this end due to the excellent work done by the latter in setting up and operating fab labs. He said super fab labs can help startups in making precise products, said Neil, citing drones used in agriculture sector as an example.“A startup can start by making a crude prototype of a drone in a mini-lab. It can then go to regular labs to make a somewhat better drone. However, in a super fab lab, they will be able to make a precision product,” said Neil. Fab labs can also be used in business creation, said Neil. “Its final use is in increasing the gross national happiness of Kerala. This can be done by using the fab labs to make tools, furniture, shelters and medical instrumentation at cheaper rates,” he said. Neil said he was happy with the way the super fa in Kerala. “The only other super fab lab in the world is at MIT. However, this is the first time we have developed one from scratch,” he said.

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