Roland to Sponsor FAB14, the International Meeting of the Fab Lab Community, in Toulouse, France

Roland DG Corporation, a leading manufacturer of wide-format inkjet printers and 3D devices worldwide, today announced that it will once again be a key sponsor of FAB14, the 14th annual meeting of the global Fab Lab community, to be held July 16-22 in Toulouse, France.

Operating under the concept “Make, Learn, Share,” a Fab Lab is an open workshop equipped with a variety of digital fabrication tools that enables members to explore, develop and share creative ideas and know-how as part of a global fabrication community. The Fab Lab Conference, held in a different city around the world each year, brings together members, educators and fans from more than 1,200 Fab Labs around the world. Attendees network and participate in a wide variety of activities, including symposiums on digital manufacturing, workshops aimed at collaborating to resolve specific societal issues, and sessions for sharing case studies and information on new initiatives being implemented at local Fab Labs.

As sponsors of the Fab Lab Conference since 2013, Roland DG and its products have played an important role in expanding the creative potential of fabrication and developing new fields of value. As a digital fabrication pioneer, Roland’s compact, easy-to-use and affordable inkjet printers, cutters and milling machines have been used to bring concepts and ideas to life for more than 30 years.

Recently, there has been significant growth in the worldwide movement aimed at boosting innovative environmental, manufacturing and creative solutions to global problems, and the Fab Lab concept is drawing increasing attention as a way of achieving these goals. Roland DG France SAS, a group company of Roland DG, will hold workshops at FAB14 demonstrating the advanced capabilities of products such as the VersaUV LEF-200 UV-LED flatbed inkjet printer, VersaSTUDIO BN-20 desktop printer/cutter, METAZA MPX-95 photo impact printer, and DGSHAPE LD-80 laser foil decorator. Workshop participants will also have an opportunity to bring selected items to the sessions, discuss the various creative designs they would like to add, and then use these state-of-the art devices to turn their ideas into reality.

“Roland has been an ardent supporter of Fab Lab initiatives for many years, and we continue to promote awareness, interest and participation,” said Andrew Oransky, President of Roland DGA. “At FAB14, attendees will have a chance to get ‘hands-on’ with our 3D milling machines, vinyl cutters and other innovative Roland technologies,” added Oransky. “They’ll be able to see for themselves why these advanced yet easy-to-use devices are recommended equipment for Fab Labs around the globe.”

 Originally proposed by Professor Neil Gershenfeld, Director of the Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a Fab Lab (fabrication laboratory) is an open workshop offering digital fabrication as well as analog tools with the aim to make “almost anything.” Today there are more than 1,200 Fab Labs in over 100 countries.

For more information on FAB14, please visit: http://www.fab14.org.

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