INSPIRED BY a 1998 Guggenheim exhibition on the motorcycle, NCAD visual communication students yesterday unveiled their Ducati 1098 superbikes revamped using innovative digital print and vehicle-wrapping technology. The project was initiated to mark the launch of the Roland Digital Research Laboratory at the college, a new technology facility which is the only one of its kind in Ireland.
Set up by Derek McGarry, deputy head of NCAD's design facility and Dave Rainsford of Roland Ireland, the €75,000 worth of equipment donated to the college provides it with state-of-the-art, two-dimensional design cutter/plotter printers and 3D design-milling machines which can channel out a design on a flat surface.
"This is a breakthrough for the college. It offers enormous research potential and so much scope for creating art and design and it is a glimpse into career options for the students. It is also a way of building relationships with an industry," said Mr McGarry who in 2004 also established a successful five-year deal termed a "knowledge transfer partnership" with Newbridge Silver for his students.
Designs from two final-year students, Kitty Ka Kei Chan and Sam Edmonds, were selected by visual communications lecturer Pat Mooney, who is himself a biker, for the new-look Ducatis.
The images were printed on to vinyl then laminated before being adhered by Kevin Ryan of Revolution Graphics to give a durable, washable surface. "We had thought of wrapping the Luas," said Mr McGarry yesterday, "but it might have been difficult to get it into the college".