ProtoLab III - a 24/7 prototyping workshop for space and VR technologies | Gdańsk University of Technology

– I am convinced that our students will be willing to use the possibilities and equipment offered by ProtoLab – says prof. Krzysztof Wilde, rector of Gdańsk University of Technology. - This place was created to allow students and employees to test their ideas, regardless of their advancement, in a space appropriately adapted for these purposes.

Protolab III, Launched at the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics 

is the third laboratory of this type with the technical infrastructure enabling the development and manufacture of any prototype.

– All three ProtoLabs complement each other thematically. ProtoLab III is aimed at students and employees of Gdańsk University of Technology, whose interests more or less coincide with those of the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics – says Mariusz Machajewski, president of Excento.

ProtoLab III focuses on areas such as space technologies, augmented reality (VR) technologies, and programming. The laboratory was equipped with 3D printing stations in FDM technology and resin. In addition, the laboratory has devices for eye tracking, testing reactions to external stimuli, raspberry pi and arduino sets, as well as a super-fast computer designed for complex calculations, including work with neural networks. Equipment, some of which can be rented through a virtual rental service, largely responds to the reported demand.

The prototyping room can be used by members of interdisciplinary teams that are created as part of the project ‘e-Pioneer - using the potential of universities to increase the innovation of ICT solutions in the public sector’, implemented by Excento company which financed ProtoLab, students of Gdańsk University of Technology preparing their diploma theses, students carrying out an individual or group project, students from research clubs, GUT employees employed under an employment contract.

– We hope that ProtoLab will not only support creativity, but also create new initiatives that will over time turn into, for example, companies created with the participation of employees or students – adds President Machajewski.

Opening of ProtoLab II at GSTP soon

Soon, in the Gdańsk Science and Technology Park, Excento will also provide users with ProtoLab II - a meeting place for the startup community, bringing together mentors from various fields. A cooperation agreement between Excento and GSTP in this regard was signed in September last year.

ProtoLab II is a fully equipped workshop that is part of the Space4makers initiative. On the area of 400 m2 , a prototyping space was created, dedicated to startups, innovative enterprises and inventors. The equipment includes large-size machines for wood and metal processing, such as a CNC plotter, lathe-milling machine, press, 3D printing station, as well as power tools.

The laboratory was established as part of the ‘e-Pioneer II - Support for ICT investors as a chance to develop the potential of talented programmers’ project.

Let us recall that the first ProtoLab was established in 2018 in the building of the Technical Service Center of Gdańsk University of Technology [No. 65 on the campus map] and was also the first 24-hour prototyping facility in Pomerania. The laboratory offers the possibility of testing solutions from the ICT industry: oscilloscopes, generators, meters, loads. The prototype shop was equipped with various types of devices and software. There are also soldering stations, tools and 3D printers.