Roland DG Sponsors FAB11, the International Meeting of the Fab Lab Community

Hamamatsu, Japan, July 30, 2015 – Roland DG Corporation, a leading worldwide manufacturer of wide-format inkjet printers and 3D devices, announced today its participation as one of the key sponsors of Fab11, the 11th annual meeting of the global Fab Lab community, to be held at MIT in Boston, the birthplace of the Fab Lab concept, from August 3 to 9, 2015. The event is expected to attract hundreds of attendees from around the world for hands-on workshops, a symposium, project demonstrations, and a youth track followed by a free weekend Fab Festival open to the public to be hosted by the cities of Boston, Cambridge and Somerville.

Created by the Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fab Labs allow anyone, from students and hobbyists to entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into reality. Under the theme "The Possibilities Are Endless," Roland DG will supply a wide range of its digital products for demonstration and use by attendees, including 3D milling machines, a 3D printer, vinyl cutters, wide format inkjet printers, and UV benchtop flatbed printers. Roland DG will also host a workshop on how to integrate open-source hardware and software, enabling customizing of the company's SRM-20 desktop milling machine.

"We are pleased to sponsor this global Fab Lab event again," said Masahiro Tomioka, Chairman and President of Roland DG Corporation. "We share the same desire of expanding the possibilities of digital fabrication to unleash the imagination and creativity of people everywhere. We are very excited," continued Tomioka, "to see the results of everyone's ideas of how to improve our daily lives, our cities, and the environment and to combat the global challenges we all face."

Roland DG focuses on proposing desktop fabrication solution especially to the educational market at FAB11, as the STEM education (academic disciplines and curriculum of science, technology, engineering and mathematics) has attracted increased attention as the means to train the next generation of innovators. Tomioka said, "Through interacting with Fab Lab managers and practitioners worldwide who engage in education and research related fields and are considered to be cutting edge in terms of creating the conditions for invention in the classroom, Roland DG has accumulated a wealth of experience and knowhow and polished our desktop fabrication concept as well as the possibilities of the devices. I hope our desktop fabrication tools enable students to engage in hands-on experiments, provide with them new ways to create, and help them to unleash their imagination and creativity to build a bright new future."

Hosted by FAB FOUNDATION, FAB11 will explore how the ability to "Make (almost) Anything" is impacting individuals, communities, businesses and collaborative research and projects around the world. As a desktop fabrication pioneer for over 30 years, Roland DG cutters and milling machines have been recommended as tools for Fab Labs around the world since their origin in 2002. Combining the latest digital technology with desktop-size, ease of use and affordable prices, Roland DG's digital devices allow individuals from a wide variety of fields to bring their ideas to life, including product designers, engineers, graphic designers, students, Makers and hobbyists. As a key sponsor, Roland DG also volunteered its wide format inkjet printers to produce much of the signage promoting the event.

About Fab Lab

A Fab Lab is an open workshop offering digital fabrication as well as analog tools with the aim to make "almost anything." The concept was originally proposed by Professor Neil Gershenfeld, the Director of the Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Currently, there are over 450 Fab Labs in over 55 countries, which under the three concepts MAKE, LEARN, SHARE, support Personal Fabrication, giving people the unprecedented ability to design and then produce their own customized products. Each local Fab Lab is connected to a network of Fab Labs around the world in order to freely share information, brainstorm ideas, and collaborate on solving problems and accomplishing projects. The Fab Lab Conference takes place once a year in a different city around the world, and serves as a forum to gather Fab Lab managers, core members and practitioners from the global Fab Lab network and beyond.

For more information, please visit: www.fab11.org

For more information, contact:

Toshiyuki Okino
+81 (0)53-484-1201
E-Mail：rdg-globalpr@rolanddg.co.jp