NOVA Fab Lab

NOVA Makers is a FREE membership program, which opens the NOVA Fab Lab to NOVA Students, Faculty and Staff to work on personal projects during our Open Labs.

How does it work?

NOVA Students, Faculty, and Staff

1. Enroll in the NOVA Makers Course on Canvas.
2. On Canvas, pass the online Safety Orientation Certification and fill out the release form, which will make you an official member!
3. Come-in during open lab hours to use machines and equipment. If it is your first time visiting or you need some help, ask a NOVA Fab Lab staff member for assistance.

Spring 2025 Lab Hours

NOVA’s Junior Makers program creates a fun, social environment for our youngest generation of makers to be introduced to fabrication and to build confidence in their STEM and problem-solving skills!

We offer a wide range of topics and activities for students ages 10-15 to create a unique project with their parent or guardian. Sessions are typically held on Saturday mornings from 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. 

Thanks to the generous support of BAE Systems, the cost is just $20 per student—50% off the standard rate! In addition to the hands-on experience, students will also learn about the Fab Lab Design Challenge.

Spring 2025 Sessions

Registration is now open with space available for up to 10 students per session.

Register Here

Community Makers provides free access to the NOVA Fab Lab for community members interested in Digital Fabrication and Making with limited access to digital fabrication equipment and training. To be considered for this program, interested individuals can apply online for a limited number of openings.

This program is popular with:

• Local Educators
• Local Librarians
• High School Students (age restricted)
• Home School Students (age restricted)
• Interested Volunteers / Mentors

Email us at FabLab@nvcc.edu for more information.

Our Product Design Incubator (PDI) is a project designed to train groups of community college students through a product design challenge. The PDI curriculum will integrate entrepreneurship training and design thinking to guide students from initial ideation through the prototyping and pitch processes. PDI will increase contact between students and industry professionals, foster interdisciplinary collaboration between NOVA students and staff, and increase the supply of IET workers with industry-required collaboration, communication, and critical thinking skills.

Fellows receive a $3,000 stipend upon completion.

Accepted Fellows Commit to the Following:

• Attend an orientation session on March 13th at 3:00 PM.
• Attend a series of ideation workshops during Spring 2025. Workshops will be held on Thursdays from 3:00 - 5:30 PM, March 27th - May 1st.
• Attend the Product Design Incubator during Summer 2025. The Incubator will run daily from 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM, May 19th - June 13th.
• Integrate the materials you developed during the incubator into a professional CV or portfolio by the end of Fall 2025.

All events will be held at the NOVA Fab Lab in the Trailside building on the Manassas campus (10500 Battleview Parkway, Manassas, VA 20109).

Eligibility:

• Must be a current student at NOVA in good standing.
• Eligible to work in the United States.

Questions? Contact Chris Russell at crussell@nvcc.edu.

The Fab Lab works with NOVA classes to support projects, lessons, and relevant activities. Support and activities can be provided in-person in the actual lab, virtually, or as a hybrid approach.

Faculty

Interested in discussing how the lab can support your class? If so, contact the Fab Lab at fablab@nvcc.edu, 703.530.3505, or submit an interest form.

The Challenge

Design a physical product that would improve any aspect of growing, accessing, cooking, serving, or packaging food.

Submit Design

Description

Food is essential to our individual and societal well-being, as well as our physical and emotional health. It connects us across cultures, generations, and communities; it embodies nourishment, traditions, and innovation. As we navigate the world, how we grow, access, cook, serve, and package food is critical in shaping our personal experiences. Whether in urban or rural areas, in homes or restaurants, or in the context of homegrown meals or industrialized food, there is always room for improvement.

The NOVA Fab Lab challenges you to design a physical product that improves any aspect of the food system, including growing, accessibility, preparation, and how food is served or stored. Consider how your product design could enhance community, nutrition, convenience, or sustainability and address challenges people face when interacting with food.

Design Categories:  

• Food Accessibility 
  Many people want to grow their food but face space, time, or knowledge challenges. Design a physical product that makes gardening more accessible, efficient, or user-friendly, allowing people to grow food in small or untraditional spaces or without a green thumb.
• Enhancing the Cooking and Dining Experience
  Design a physical product that improves the cooking and dining experience, making it more convenient, enjoyable, and creative. This could include tools that streamline meal prep, elevate the cooking process, or make serving and dining more effortless or engaging.
• Serving and Cultural Food Traditions
  Explore a food tradition that involves cooking or serving food in a culturally meaningful way (e.g., communal meals, food preparation, unique to specific regions), and modernize or enhance the experience without losing the cultural or social essence.
• Reducing Waste in Households or Restaurants
  Create a physical product that helps reduce packaging or food waste by promoting sustainability in households or businesses. The solution could aim to minimize packaging waste, extend food shelf life, or incorporate reusable, biodegradable, or compostable materials to help reduce overall waste.

Who?

To be eligible, participants must be current students residing in the continental U.S. The competition will feature two age divisions: 10-15 years old and 16 and up. This year we have included a new Student Club division, open to any school affiliated post-secondary, high school, or middle school student club.

Dates

• February 1, 2025 – Design Submission Portal Opens
• April 6, 2025 – Design Submission Portal Closes at 11:59PM
• April 18, 2025 – Finalists Announced
• May 2, 2025 – Showcase and Awards Ceremony

Prizes

• Division Champions – $500
• Division Runner-up - $250
• Division Honorable Mention - $100

*Divisions are 10-15 years old, 16+ years old, and school affiliated clubs (in Post-Secondary, High School, or Middle School).

How to Submit

All entries must be submitted online. You will submit your product design digitally using the Entry Form. If chosen as a finalist, fabricated product must be delivered to NOVA Manassas Campus.

Entry Form

The  Entry Form will walk you through the required components which will include:

• Name of product
• Written description of your intended user and the purpose of your design (maximum 500 words).
• Graphical description of your product—a visual representation of your product such as: 
  • a digitized hand drawing(sketch) 
  • a CAD file (stl), a vector file (svg)
  • a photo
  • a video (include link to video in a document or PDF, not upload of actual video)
  • other digital format

Note: Any uploaded files must be PDF, JPEG, PNG, STL, SVG, SKP, DOC, DOCX, or OBJ file types. Maximum size of each file is 10 MB, up to 3 files can be uploaded per submission.

Judging Criteria

• Feasibility: Can the design be built? Is the solution feasible on a small or large scale? How can it be adapted for different contexts?
• Creativity and Innovation: How innovative is your idea? How does your solution introduce new thinking or address an existing problem with a novel approach? 
• Aesthetics: Is your design visually pleasing?
• Effectiveness and Impact: Does your design solve the identified challenge? Can the product be modified to increase its impact on a larger scale? How will your design improve the accessibility, convenience, nutrition, sustainability, or affordability of food-related activities? 
• Sustainability: How does your product address the environmental impact of food production, packaging, or waste?
• User Needs (Target Audience): Who is the target audience? Is it home cooks, professional chefs, farmers, consumers, or specific communities affected by food challenges?

Resources

Junior Makers: Students ages 10-15 are invited to participate in our Junior Makers workshops, held on Saturday mornings from 9 AM to 12 PM. Alongside a parent or chaperone (18+), participants will explore design software and fabrication techniques while working together on exciting projects. This hands-on experience is perfect for building skills—and memories! Thanks to the generous support of BAE Systems, the cost is only $20 per student, a 50% discount off the regular price.

Community Makers: High school students 16 and older can join the Fab Lab community during Friday evening’s open lab hours held from 5pm-9pm to learn more about design software and fabrication techniques.

NOVA Makers: Current NOVA students can enroll in NOVA Makers to gain access to the Fab Lab during open lab hours.

Educator Reference Guide: This guide provides ideas on how to implement the Design Challenge into your classroom.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do I submit my design?  
You will submit your design digitally via our Entry Form.

Do I have to physically build my product?  
No. In fact, we are not accepting physical objects. However, you are welcome to build a prototype as a visual representation of your design, but it is not a requirement.

Do I have to be a NOVA Community College student to participate?   
No, any student 10 or older including homeschool, college, or university student (excluding graduate school) within the continental US may participate.     

Is there a size limitation for my solution?  
No, choose the size that best fits your solution to the problem.  The NOVA Fab Lab will fabricate the design of the division champions, including, if necessary, a scaled-down version of the product.   

Can my solution be a digital application or a new system for growing, accessing, cooking, serving, or packaging food?
No, your solution must be a tangible product. While digital applications and systems can be valuable for improving processes, we are specifically looking for a product that can be built, tested, and used in the real world whether it's a new tool, device, piece of equipment, or another type of object that addresses the problem you're aiming to solve. The end result should be something that can be physically created and put into practical use.

What kinds of equipment/processes does the Fab Lab have available to fabricate winning designs?   
Capabilities include:  

• CNC routing (4’x4’)  
• Full Woodshop  
• CNC metal mill  
• Laser cutting/engraving  
• UV flatbed printer  
• Soldering/electronics  
• Textile (sewing machines, sergers)  
• Vacuum Former 
• Additive Manufacturing (including color polyjet and filament printers with dissolvable supports)  

Rules and Regulations

1. The Challenge is open to students 10+ years old and above including post-secondary educational institutes within the continental USA.
2. Participants must be 18 years or older or provide consent by a parent or guardian over the age of 18.
3. Participation is open to individuals and school affiliated student clubs in middle school, high school, and post-secondary.
4. Only 1 entry per person is permitted regardless of whether they enter as an individual or in a student club. If a participant enters one design as an individual, and a second as a club member, the entries will be disqualified.
5. The Challenge is not open to; any persons employed as a professional in 3D printing, employees of Northern Virginia Community College, judges or any of their families, and employees and families of the NOVA Annual Design Challenge sponsors.
6. Judges will select finalists from the online submissions. These finalists will then be asked to present their solutions during the Fab Lab Awards Ceremony for all winners, VIPs, guests, and judges.
7. Competitors presenting work that is not their own will be disqualified.

Terms and Conditions

• Agree to be bound by the decisions of the judges.
• Warrant that you are eligible to participate.
• Warrant, to the best of your knowledge, your work is not, and has not been in production or otherwise previously published or exhibited.
• Warrant neither the work nor its use infringes the intellectual property rights (whether a patent, utility model, functional design right, aesthetic design right, trademark, copyright, or any other intellectual property right) of any other person.
• Warrant that your design is respectful and considerate of all cultures. Designs that are deemed offensive or disrespectful will not be accepted.
• Warrant participation shall not constitute employment, assignment or offer of employment, or assignment.
• Agree participation does not entitle compensation or reimbursement for any costs.
• Agree Northern Virginia Community College and all affiliates have the right to promote all entries and winners. 
• Winners will be contacted by NOVA Fab Lab staff to get their contact information and any other information needed.  
• Winning Product will be chosen based on the Rules and Requirements. 
• Winning individuals or teams will be required to collect prize(s) at the NOVA Manassas campus during award ceremony.
• Winners agree to the NOVA Community College Image release.

If you are chosen as one of the top three winners, then the Fab Lab will fabricate your design and may need to scale the design to a reasonable size to create a tangible model. 

For additional information visit the Design Challenge website or send questions via email to; mratcliff@nvcc.edu (use the subject heading “2025 Fabrication Challenge”)