What is this course about?

In today’s digital era, the importance of understanding, interrogating, and mastering our tools cannot be overstated. These tools are not just external entities but pivotal instruments that shape our thoughts, aspirations, and interactions. 

Through this fast-paced 1-year programme, participants will learn how to design for and utilise foundational digital fabrication tools. Learners will conceptualise, design and fabricate their own tools for research that will be employed in their own creative practices and processes, harnessing the opportunities opened up by digital, technological and ecological fabrication.

Delivered in partnership with Creative Spark – The Centre For Creativity and Innovation, this programme is accredited by NCAD and delivered at The Enterprise Fabrication Laboratory (FabLab, Dundalk). Creative Spark’s state-of-the-art technical prototyping and fabrication space offers  more than 200 sq. meters of full equipped space, digital fabrication machinery, power tools and technologies including: FDM 3D printing , SLA 3D printing , SLS 3D printing , 3D scanning , Laser cutting, Waterjet cutting , CNC milling, Moulding and casting, Vinyl printing and cutting , Sewing and embroidery, Electronics workbench. 

The programme comprises of four 12-week modules: 

• Creative Principles – Digital Making,  5 Credits,  Nov – Feb 2024 (12 weeks)
• Creative Agendas 1 – Digital Making, 5 Credits, March 2025 – May  2025 (8 weeks)
• Creative Collaboration 1 – Digital Making,  5 Credits , May 2025  – June  2025 (8 weeks)
• Creative Capstone 1  – Digital Making, 5 Credits, August  2025 – Oct  2025  (6 weeks)

Technologies taught on this programme include: 

• CAD Fundamentals
• Vinyl-cutting
• Laser-cutting 
• Vector-Design 
• 3D printers 
• CNC machine
• Parametric Design and Constraints
• Arduino

What will I do on this course?

Delivered by academic staff and technologists who are leading practitioners and researchers in their specialist fields, the Professional Diploma is centred on contemporary creative practice and discourse.

This programme embraces a pedagogy rooted in self-directed and life-long learning, echoing the ethos that has fuelled the growth of fab labs globally and resonating with the spirit of “How to Make Almost Anything.” Over the programme students will be guided through a blend of one-on-one and group crits, virtual lectures and discussions.

The programme seeks to instil an attitude of proactive engagement and curiosity, equipping participants with the mindset needed for innovative digital making.

In partnership with Creative Spark – Dundalk, our programme offers participants a unique opportunity to engage in research, discussions, and hands-on projects. This collaborative experience aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of key theories and approaches, highlighting the interconnectedness of technology, ecology, and society.

Who is this course for?

The Professional Diploma in Digital Making is for artists, designers, all kinds of makers from amateur to professionals such as people tv, film and theatre, crafts people, and researchers which could include anyone from ecologists to experimental musicians.

Learners will situate their own digital making within contemporary frameworks that emphasise our intricate entanglement with the world and the objects we create, challenging traditional notions of progress in fabrication and making.

This way of thinking through making can be useful for professional teams, life-long learners, educators, as well as independent artists, designers, makers, researchers and creative practitioners with a backgrounds in 3D forms, bio-materials.