A good kind of crazy: Wim taught 20,000 people to solder

Wim Van Gool (38) is someone who can’t sit still. In his day job, he’s a project manager at Dekimo, where he works on electronics development. One evening a week, he heads to Area 3001, his hackerspace at FabLab Leuven. On top of that, he’s also part of the organizing team for the biennial Fri3d Camp, a family-friendly summer camp for hackers. And as if that weren’t enough, Wim also runs the company Phyx with his brother, where he sells some of his projects and also designs on request.

What originally brought you to FabLab Leuven?

I ended up here while pursuing my master’s degree in electronics and ICT, as I was working on my thesis. At the time, I designed a complete home automation system, a system that controls the lighting and other devices in your home. My advisor, Koen Buys, told me that FabLab could be useful for the test system and for building the casing. That’s how I ended up walking in here one day. At the time, I was living in a dorm in Leuven and missed having the tools I used to have at my parents’ house. Thanks to FabLab, I still had a workshop, a place where I could tinker.

Why did you decide to build your own home automation system?

A home automation system is a way to bring intelligence into your home. There were many professional providers, but they were all very expensive. There also wasn’t a single one that offered something you could build yourself. As a student, I saw a gap in the market, so I created a home automation system that you could assemble entirely on your own. I created a kit for hobbyists.

What surprised you about your experience at FabLab?

What surprised me most was that many people had the same approach as I did and wanted to share their knowledge. 3D printing, for example, is a world I’m not familiar with, but Marc and Thomas are. If I don’t know how to do something, they help me right away. Although I don’t actually know much about 3D printing, several of my 3D models are now on display in the cabinet at FabLab. One of them is a little box shaped like my heart. That’s the ring box I used to propose to my wife. Using MRI images, I was able to reconstruct my heart. I then adapted that design into a box that I could 3D print.

Did FabLab change the way you think?

Yes. I think especially in terms of the accessibility of technology, how important it is to make complex technology accessible enough so that anyone can use it. A long time ago, Marc and I went to Madrid, along with other representatives from FabLabs. There, it became clear that while there are plenty of machines, the main challenge lies in ensuring that people actually know how to use them.

Has FabLab made a difference in the path you’ve taken?

Yes, a specific problem when it came to user-friendliness was soldering. Soldering is a precise task, but even a four- or five-year-old can do it. Unfortunately, a kit to teach a child how to solder cost 10 to 15 euros. That was expensive, and had to be cheaper. That’s why I started making soldering kits myself. At first, the kits were very simple, just a silly little face with two LED lights and a battery. It did the trick. You learned how to solder with it. But I wanted to make something cooler, so I designed little airplanes with lights that kids have to assemble themselves. That way, they also get something they can play with, instead of it just ending up in the back of a cabinet. That’s how the ball got rolling. In the meantime, I’ve also designed a Space Shuttle at the request of an American online store. Those kits have even made their way to a German company that’s involved in space travel.

This year, I’ve surpassed the twenty-thousand mark for soldering kits. I produce and sell them through my company, Phyx, mainly in bulk. My margin on the kits is very low, because the goal isn’t to make a profit. The aim is to teach kids how to solder. I do have an online store to show people what kits we have, but I set the prices absurdly high because I don’t want them to buy directly from me. I’d rather draw things than spend time packing and shipping. That’s why I offer a huge discount when someone buys in large quantities. It’s just a lot less work for me that way. I have a full-time job, so making money from this doesn’t really interest me. What interests me is the side effect: that lots of kids learn to solder and that many people can work with it. That’s what I enjoy about it. I don’t run Phyx from a commercial standpoint. It’s truly a labor of love. When I design something on request, I also offer a discount if I’m allowed to publish it online. That way, everyone can make use of it.

What has FabLab brought you?

At a certain point, I was no longer a student and couldn’t go to FabLab anymore because I was working during the office hours. Some like-minded people who also lived nearby were facing the same problem. We really wanted to use the facilities after hours. That’s how the idea of starting a hackerspace came about. Hacking isn’t what people think it is. It just means using something for a purpose other than what the manufacturer intended. We are, however, a very atypical hackerspace. Traditionally, a hackerspace is a place where the door is always open and anyone can walk in. We can’t do that because we’re located in a KU Leuven building. New members often join by invitation. We also charge a membership fee, but that’s only to help cover the cost of drinks and chips. Our agreement with FabLab is that we’re allowed to use the machines, and in exchange make something for them every now and then, but that’s fun to do.

What do you work on in the hackerspace?

We work on a wide variety of projects. For example, we recently started working on a thermal printer from the discount retailer Action that only works with the manufacturer’s app on your phone. That printer does exactly the same thing as a normal printer, but it’s much cheaper. We wrote our own software for it so you can just use it with your computer. We also do more tangible things. For example, we held a Power Tool Drag Race. In that race, power tools like a sander, a grinding wheel, and a drill have to cover a certain distance as fast as possible. The most important thing to us is that we always have fun.

It’s not like we always work together as a whole group. That wouldn’t work anyway, because not everyone comes every week. There are about thirty of us in total, but the core group consists of about eight people. On a really busy day, there are about fifteen of us. The idea is that we work on things together and help each other out. We make sure that we work for the common good rather than on private products to market. Or, if you’re going to market something, that it’s open source, and that you make the plans available.

One of my favorite projects we work on is making the badge for Fri3d Camp. The badge is a piece of programmable electronics with sensors and a screen that every visitor receives at the start of the festival. Making that badge takes a lot of time, but I always really enjoy it. The development process takes about eighteen months. The biggest challenge in designing that circuit board is making it visually appealing and interesting while staying within a tight budget. On top of that, it takes a lot of soldering and fiddling to get all the badges ready.

What exactly is Fri3d Camp?

Fri3d Camp is a hacker camp for families. Over time, it has evolved into a place for making and creating. STEM and STEAM education play a major role there. We’ve noticed that many families have children with a strong interest in making things, but there aren’t many opportunities for them. All 640 tickets this year were sold purely through word of mouth. At Fri3d Camp, we don’t organize anything ourselves, we just facilitate. We make sure there are tents, materials, electricity… that sort of thing. The visitors bring their own content and lead workshops on topics they want to share. At our camp, passionate people share their knowledge with one another. Most of the sessions are geared toward children, but in the evenings there are also sessions aimed at adults, such as someone explaining how to get the most out of a dynamic electricity contract. Over the course of the weekend, about 150 sessions are led by our visitors.

Where does your interest in making technology accessible (to children) come from?

I suspect that it’s because my father was the principal of an elementary school with a limited budget. The annual budget for IT was 2,000 euros, which is practically nothing. That had to cover buying computers, setting up internet access, and keeping everything running. It was a challenge. My student job was making sure all year round that the IT infrastructure stayed up and running at my father’s school. I never had any other summer jobs. My uncle had a computer store filled with containers of old computers that were being thrown away. I took those discarded computers apart, sorted the parts, and pieced them together to make working computers again. Even back then, my goal was to ensure that as many children as possible were able to use a computer.