Marymount International School London has become the first school in the UK to establish a fully equipped ‘Fab Lab’ (Fabrication Laboratory), a state-of-the-art workshop equipped with an array of flexible computer controlled tools which can make “almost anything.”The school will use the new Fab Lab to teach computer programming, coding, robotics and design - areas which straddle the disciplines of mathematics, physics and technology as well as art and design.  Costing over £90,000, the lab is equipped with 3D printers, a 3D scanner, a laser cutter, a vinyl cutter, a sublimating printer, a large format printer and a number of notebook computers.The Fab Lab was officially opened this week by Baroness Susan Greenfield, the British scientist known for her work on the physiology of the brain. In her talk to the girls at Marymount, she highlighted the unique challenges and myths that follow women in science, including that they are less competent and the difficulties that arise with the choices surrounding motherhood and career structure.Sarah Gallagher, headmistress at the independent girls' secondary school in Kingston upon Thames, said, "We're delighted to be able to offer girls the profound learning potential of the Fab Lab. The use of the Lab is truly interdisciplinary, and leads to a 21st century learning experience."Until now, schools in the UK wishing to access a Fab Lab could only do so via universities and independently run workshops. In line with the "open source" philosophy of Fab Labs UK and across the world, Marymount plans to open its Fab Lab to a wide range of users. The school has linked with local schools St Agatha's and St. Joseph's to offer an enrichment programme run by students with support from staff on a voluntary basis."As we learn and gain proficiency in using the Fab Lab, the offering will inevitably grow for students and teachers working together, since the girls' natural curiosity is engaged by this new technology," said Ms Gallagher. "All children attending the Saturday enrichment programme will be able to spend time in the Fab Lab and be introduced to its possibilities."Fab Labs provide widespread access to modern means for invention. The concept was first introduced in 2001 at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in the US. There are now more than 125 Fab Labs in 34 countries around the world.For more Re:locate news and features about education and schools click hereIn the Winter 2014/15 edition of Re:locate magazine, Rebecca Marriage discusses the extraordinary growth of international schools: The new global classroom