  Creativity, together with the making of ideas into fruition, is essential for
progress. Today the evolution from an idea to its application can be
facilitated by the implementation of Fabrication Laboratories, or FabLabs,
having affordable digital tools for prototyping. FabLabs aiming at scientific
research and invention are now starting to be established inside Universities,
Research Centers and Schools. We review the setting up of the ICTP Scientific
FabLab in Trieste, Italy, give concrete examples on the use in physics, and
propose to replicate world-wide this class of multi-purpose workplaces within
academia as a support for physics and math education and for community
development.
