Bas van Abel is passionate about developing a wide variety of projects based on open design principles. As co-founder of Waag Society’s Fablab (a community fabrication laboratory) and the Instructables Restaurant (an open source restaurant), he is an active member of the international maker and digital fabrication community.

With a background in interaction design and a personal interest in electronics, Bas contributes to projects both as a designer and a technical engineer. As head of the Open Design Lab he researches the interface between production technologies and network cultures.

Some of Bas’s current initiatives include FairPhone (building world’s first fair mobile phone), Fablab Suriname, and the (Un)limited Design Contest (an open source design contest). Bas is co-editor of “Open Design Now”, a book on the transformation of design into an open discipline. In this new paradigm, designs are shared and product innovation is a collaborative and world-spanning process.