About dfUEL
What is dfUEL?
The Digital Fabrication Lab (dfUEL) located in the Royal Docks Centre for Sustainability building is a cutting-edge maker space that offers a wide range of facilities to and welcomes students and staff from various schools around the UEL campus.
What do we do?
The lab is equipped with an impressive array of machines and tools, including 3D printers, 3D scanners, milling machine, Robotic Arm and many more.
dfUEL has built strong ties with global architectural practices such as Grimshaw and Zaha Hadid, facilitating research collaborations and projects in the field of architecture. This allows students and staff to work on real-world projects and contribute to the advancement of the industry.
dfUEL actively collaborates with artists, engineers, filmmakers, and fashion designers, providing a cross-disciplinary platform where ideas from different fields can come together to be realized. This collaboration fosters creativity, innovation, and new perspectives in the design and fabrication processes.
Our team
The lab is proud of its highly qualified and experienced staff members who are always available to provide guidance, support, and expertise to users. Whether it's helping with technical aspects, suggesting design improvements, or offering creative input, the staff members at dfUEL are dedicated to assisting students in bringing their ideas to life.
Opening hours
Mon-Fri
10:00 - 13:00
14:00 - 17:00
Docklands Campus, KD G.17
Fulvio Wirz - Head of dfUEL
Fulvio is an architect and designer, partner at Wirz Architects and currently working as Senior Lecturer at the University of East London as programme leader of the MA in Architecture and Urbanism. He is also head of the Digital Fabrication Lab at UEL (dFUEL). He is a former associate at Zaha Hadid Architects where he has been responsible for the design of more than 40 projects including cutting edge buildings and products.
Raivati Dandiwala - Technical Associate
Raivati is a designer, researcher, and digital fabrication specialist, and a former lecturer in architecture and interior design at the University of East London. She currently works at the Digital Fabrication Lab (dfUEL) and has delivered over 10 projects across the UK and internationally.
Her work focuses on integrating digital fabrication, computational design, and emerging technologies. At dfUEL, she supports interdisciplinary, hands-on student projects using advanced fabrication processes.
She is also engaged in research on sustainable fashion, digital manufacturing, and future-focused design, with publications on platforms like Parametric Architecture and Rethinking the Future.