What the Maker Lab is · at CIC Berlin

The Workshop

From idea to working prototype. The SIB Maker Lab is where founders build their physical product, with tools, a safety induction and a team by your side.

01 — The Maker Lab

A place and tools for everyone who builds.

The Maker Lab is the workshop of the Startup Incubator Berlin, the place for founders developing something you can hold in your hand: hardware, deep tech, IoT and sensors, MedTech housings, trade-fair demos. Five areas, three of them usable today: 3D printing, laser (supervised) and electronics. Wood and metal as well as textile and finish are being set up.

It is the sister of the SIB Media Lab: same mechanics, a different promise. The Media Lab helps you tell your story; the Maker Lab helps you build your prototype. You do the work yourself, learning by doing — we run the induction, supervise and keep the equipment ready.

What the lab is not

Not an open public FabLab. No walk-in crowd, no hobby offer. Access runs through an account, the usage rules and an induction.
Not a programme. Money, coaching and stipends sit with the programmes on the main SIB site. The lab provides space, equipment and induction. The rule of thumb: lab = place & tools, programme = money & coaching.
Not contract manufacturing. We do not produce for you. You build it yourself — we run the induction and are there when you need us.

02 — Who it is for

Three who build here.

Three typical paths through the workshop — and the induction level that comes with each. The examples show what the lab is for; which equipment joins in the remaining areas is decided by the further inventory.

Persona A · Induction Yellow

MedTech founder prints a housing

He is developing a handheld diagnostic device and needs a new housing iteration after iteration. In the 3D-printing area he prints variants, checks the fit and prints again. After the equipment induction he works on his own.

Persona B · Green → Yellow

IoT team solders a sensor board

The team is building a connected sensor node. In the electronics area they solder, measure and flash at two Weller benches until the board runs. The workbenches need only the basic induction; individual devices need a short one of their own.

Persona C · Red — supervised only

Hardware founder laser-cuts the trade-fair demo

In a few weeks she needs a presentable demo housing. Front panel and cut-outs are made on the laser, always as a supervised session. The Formlabs Form 4 runs the same way: supervised only, and we are with you.

Green, yellow and red describe our induction model — not individual machines. They explain how access to the equipment works; the only binding document is the usage agreement you accept before you start working.

03 — Location & Access

At CIC, under the roof of the HWR.

The Maker Lab is an offer of the Startup Incubator Berlin — the startup center of HWR Berlin — and sits at CIC Berlin, Lohmühlenstraße 65, 12435 Berlin. Together with the Media Lab it forms a lab duo there, under the shared SIB×CIC roof.

The Maker Lab is open to participants in the SIB programmes and to HWR members interested in founding. CIC members use it under the framework agreement. External users case by case: write to us and we will sort out the arrangement.

Every week there is one supervised and one open workshop window; the published dates under Announcements are binding. The lab supplies the material; nothing is billed for now.

The matching programmes — with money, coaching and stipends — are on the main SIB site: startup-incubator.berlin ↗

04 — Your way into the lab

Money and coaching come with an SIB programme.

Rule of thumb: money & coaching come with the programme, space & tools here in the lab. For participants in the SIB programmes the workshop is part of the offer; HWR members interested in founding and CIC members come in via the induction. The programmes live on the main SIB site:

P-01