They come from many places, are every age, and have different design ambitions. But they are all just now obsessed with wheels, which kind of vehicles can be put on them, and what can be done in and with those vehicles.
The students in the current design studies programme at DIT Bolton Street are part-time, holding down other jobs and interests. They give up two nights a week and their Saturdays to learn about interior design, furniture design, graphics, landscape and engineering design.
"I was kind of dubious about the transportation module at first, I thought it would be all about mechanical stuff," says Liz Fleming from Glenageary. "But so far it's the section I've most enjoyed. And it's not as hard as I thought it would be."
Pat Gibson of Donegal doesn't even drive. She "knows nothing" about cars and "has no interest in them - but it ended up being one of my favourite modules, where I took the angle of getting a concept or idea of functionality for a vehicle and then doing the drawings and putting my concepts into all the different parts of a car."
Richard Foley of Tallaght is "more interested in interior design, but the challenge in a car design is that it actually has to look like it goes somewhere even when it is static. It leads the eye, if you like, and has to look like it does its task well."
Ros Kavanagh of Wicklow is fascinated at how much the designer can achieve within very tight boundaries. "Urs took us out into a car park and stuck bits of black tape on various bits of a car. It was amazing how much difference even little tweaks make to the appearance of a car."
A primary interest in graphics for Carmel Sweeney from Chapelizod has been enhanced by the realisation of how light works as it hits different parts of a car. "I wanted to know how something is actually rendered in car design, how you actually get the look you want from the materials you have available. The module has made me look differently at cars."
For Gillian Carr from Kilcock there is now a greater appreciation of what goes into cars and how much work has been done by a team for perhaps many years. "I would have previously looked at cars in terms of solid lines, but now I'm fascinated by all the curves and angles."
Tom Murphy is one of the original DIT staff members who took the pilot course, and he now tutors in the transport module. He believes DIT could support a full car design course, and is somewhat amazed what has evolved from that original pilot. "It was a small acorn and, hopefully, there is a big oak tree to come."