• Fab Academy should abandon the traditional diploma model and instead issue portable, machine-readable micro-certificates that let learners prove mastery of specific tools without retaking entire courses when hardware or interfaces evolve.

• A vision was sketched for “living spaceships” in which genetically engineered marine sponges (e.g., Venus’ Flower Basket) precipitate glass fibers inside a living polyester matrix, creating self-growing glass-fiber composite structures.

• MRI-based non-destructive book scanning was proposed: chemically tag iron-bearing inks with a magnetic agent, then use sub-millimeter MRI slices to capture every page without turning them, followed by OCR and image segmentation.

• Sub-micron CNC milling driven by 3-D scans is now the standard workflow for custom dental crowns, rifle grips and prosthetic sockets, eliminating physical molds and enabling remote, biocompatible design collaboration.

• A low-cost, FPGA-based 160 kHz / 48-bit digital audio mixer was outlined: 1600-gate FPGA (~£160), 160 kHz ADCs/DACs (~£26 each), FFT-based spectral mixing, optical encoders, and a soft-core MCU—delivering studio-grade performance for ~£300 instead of £3000+ commercial units.

• A DIY 3-axis desktop mill is being hand-built from 3"×2"×1/8" aluminum angle to mill PCBs, plastics and light aluminum, intended as a stepping-stone to a larger 5-axis hexapod capable of machining steel.

• Participants debated whether an octahedral tube-frame hexapod made from EMT conduit or 20 mm stainless rods can survive the torsional loads of steel machining; skeptics cite frame flex, while the designer claims struts see only axial forces.

• Practical constraints dominate workshop planning: a 500 kg knee-mill rusts in an outdoor shed because it is too heavy and noisy for a first-floor flat, driving demand for compact, low-noise desktop machines that can later bootstrap larger equipment.

• A new prosthetics start-up filed incorporation paperwork for 28 September and is pursuing nervous-system-interfaced bionic arms, but strict NDAs and military classification prevent open-source discussion, highlighting the tension between proprietary and open development.

• The open-hardware community still lacks affordable CAD access, pushing projects toward IGES/STEP exchange formats and prompting calls for better open-source CAD viewers and build systems to replace fragile proprietary stacks.