Roland DG employees, affiliates, customers and friends from all over the world gathered recently at the company’s headquarters in Hamamatsu, Japan to celebrate three decades of Roland innovation and creativity.
Roland Creative Awards grand prize entry - a tunneling machine prototype milled on the MDX-540The 30th anniversary event was marked by a day of fun and festivities at the company’s headquarters, followed by tours of Kyoto and Tokyo. All eyes however were on the 16 attending regional finalists in the company’s Roland Creative Awards international competition, whose work was drawn from 1,193 competition entries.
The highlight of the celebration event came when the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts in north-eastern China was awarded the contest’s grand prize by Roland DG President Masahiro Tomioka.
Accepting the award were Du Haibin and Jiao Hongwei, industrial design professors at the university. Both men chose a Roland EGX-360 gift engraver as the grand prize for their university.
“Our entry, a scale model tunnelling machine, was part of a transportation-themed project that teaches students how to transform a 2D design into a 3D prototype,” Haibin said. “Winning the Roland award is important to our school as it provides visibility to our efforts and assists us in attaining funding for future projects.”
Grand prize winners L R Jiao Hongwei and Du Haibin of the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts in North Eastern ChinaThe sophisticated winning prototype was produced on a Roland MDX-540 milling machine and is comprised of several sections that were each milled separately from a variety of materials. Along its surface are intricate contours, textures and details achieved using Roland subtractive rapid prototyping technology.
The criteria for The Roland Creative Awards is based on inviting businesses from more than 120 countries worldwide to submit their best work produced on any Roland wide-format inkjet printer, vinyl cutter, engraver, 3D milling machine or any other production tool. Entries spanned industries and applications, and included everything from signage, banners and vehicle wraps to personalised accessories, jewellery designs, decorated apparel and even tattoo art. The entire gallery of entries can be viewed online at www.rolandcreativeawards.com.
More than 75 prizes were awarded throughout the contest, which ran from September 2011 to January 2012. In addition to being a showcase of creativity, the contest was billed as illustrating the breadth of Roland’s technological achievements, developed and advanced over the past 30 years.
“It is a privilege to be part of such a dynamic, accomplished organisation and to be here among friends and colleagues for this very special event,” Tomioka said. “When I look back at the company’s origins, it’s hard to imagine how far we have come and how many lives we have touched. The tremendous work of our customers on display through the Roland Creative Awards really says it all. When you empower creative professionals with innovative tools and technologies, the possibilities are endless.”
For information on Roland Dental Milling Machines visit
http://www.rolandcreativeawards.com
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