CFA | NCAD | Professional Diploma in Digital Making | ESF+ 2026

THIS PROGRAMME IS CO FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND AND THE EUROPEAN UNION (EUFUNDS.IE

A collaboration between Cultural & Creative Industry Skillnet and CFA-NCAD, this programme is offered to creative professionals at a special CCIS partnership rate of €1250 (normally the fee for this course would be €2,200 in 2026).

Overview

This hands-on programme is ideal for creative practitioners looking to position their work within a well-informed digital, technological, and ecological context. The Professional Diploma in Digital making is suitable for all Art & Design graduates, those who work in Art Departments of Film and Theatre or anyone with a need to know more about digital making.

This fast-paced 1-year programme will teach participants 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.

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What will this course cover?

Delivered in partnership with Creative Spark – The Centre For Creativity and Innovation, this programme is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union, supported by Cultural & Creative Industries Skillnet and accredited by NCAD. In addition, Creative Spark’s state-of-the-art technical prototyping and fabrication space offers more than 200 sq. meters of fully 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.

Technologies taught on this programme include:

• Cad fundamentals
• Vinyl-Cutting
• Laser-Cutting
• Vector-Design
• 3D Printers
• CNC Machine
• Parametric Design and Constraints
• Arduino

Learners on the professional diploma in digital making 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.

Participant profile/Who can apply/Eligibility

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.

Pre-requisites
All applicants are expected to present an approved Bachelor Degree at a minimum level of 2nd class honours (2.2)

Recognition of Prior Experience & Learning (RPEL)  – Applicants who do not meet the minimum academic entry requirements for admission may be considered on the basis of a recognition of previous  learning  whether based on prior relevant experience or other relevant credited or non credited or learning (RPL). In such cases each applicant will be considered on a case-by-case basis based on a review of the applicant’s CV and other supporting documentation.

Please contact ncad@creativefutures.ie for further information.

Qualifying Examination –  In certain cases the academic team may choose to set a qualifying assignment in order to assess an applicant’s suitability for admission.

Learn More About Entry Requirements

CCIS Membership Support

Who Qualifies:
INDIVIDUALS

• Sole traders or Freelancers who are Resident in the ROI are eligible as Member Companies.
• Private company (SME) or Enterprise employees.

COMPANIES

• Private Enterprise & SMEs based in the Republic of Ireland.
• Commercial semi-state companies providing that income contributed to a Network is not sourced from the public purse (must provide a letter).
• Social enterprises that trade as commercial social enterprises, and are companies registered with the CRO

Who Does Not Qualify:

INDIVIDUALS

• Applicants who are not Resident in the Republic of Ireland
• Applicants who are Unemployed and in receipt of Unemployment Benefit
• Applicants participating on a CE Scheme
• Applicants in receipt of a BURSARY, SCHOLARSHIP OR GRANT AID toward fees for this course from another government agency or programme.

COMPANIES

• Skillnet Ireland funding is not available to public sector bodies or organisation that are publicly funded such as community-based not-for-profit companies or charities.
• Social enterprises that are solely constituted as charities do not currently meet the eligibility criteria.

All programmes are provided without discrimination. This includes discrimination based on gender, race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age, or sexual orientation. An inclusive environment that welcomes participants from diverse communities is promoted.

This course is part funded by ESF+

ESF+ stands for European Social Fund Plus. It is a European fund that focuses on lifelong learning through improving employment and education opportunities.

In addition to the CCIS support application, Cultural & Creative Industries Skillnet is required by Government to collect ‘Special Category Data‘ from those who wish to avail of ESF+ supports for this programme. Given the sensitive nature of this data, strict controls over access have been implemented.

Your Rights and Choices
The mandatory form will ask for general and special category data about you. You can choose if you want to share the special category information in questions 13 to 18. If you do answer these questions, we will handle answers with utmost care.

You have the right to access your data, get us to correct it if we get your details wrong, and ask us to delete your data. You can also choose to opt out or withdraw at any time (*I Do Not Consent). However, if you withdraw, we will not be able to provide you with access to the Professional Diploma in Digital Making course until you reapply.

At the end of this questionnaire, we will also ask you to declare that the information you have provided is true. If you would like to take part in the ESF+ course, you must answer all the questions even if they do not apply. 

Further data will be collected at the following milestones.

• certification date
• 6 months post certification

If you wish to use your rights to access or change your information, or are concerned about anything on your participant form, please email dpo@skillnetireland.ie. 

For more information on ESF+ data processing and your rights, please see the ESF+ Data Privacy Notice.  You can find this on the Skillnet Ireland website or email your postal address and we will post it to you. 

Special Category Data

PLEASE FILL OUT THIS FORM OR ACCESS VIA THE QR CODE BELOW.

Location

The practical component will take place in the NCAD’s Walsh Workshop. Some elements in the 3rd (summer) module will take place in Creative Spark Dundalk. 

The Enterprise Fabrication Laboratory
(FabLab, Dundalk)
A91HF77

Tutors

Lead Academic – Adam Gibney 
A multi-disciplinary artist, educator,
and researcher with a Master of Arts by Practice-Based Research Degree
and First Class BA(Hons) in Visual Arts Practice.
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Oscar Isaac Diaz Carrillo – Education and Operations Manager
Oscar has 8 years of extensive experience in FabLab management within the esteemed Fab Lab Global Network.
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Carl McAteer – Technical Manager
is an experienced designer with a Bachelor’s in Product Design and a recent Certificate in Design &
Parametric Fabrication.
Learn More

Costs/fee

The fee for this course is €1250 per person (normally €2200)
Payment will be due in full before the course commences
Refunds cannot be issued once the course has commenced.

Application steps

This is a 3 x step application

1. Complete the Special Category Data Participant Questionnaire below (Scroll to the bottom of the page for the QR Code or Link)
2. Fill out the Cultural & Creative Industries Skillnet membership application form below (Green ‘Apply’ button)
3. If your CCIS Membership application is successful, you will be notified and given access to the CFA/NCAD Course application link if you have not already applied via the CFA/NCAD website.
   
   
   If your NCAD Course Application is successful you will be notified by NCAD and given access to a CCIS Registration/Payment Link.

CCIS membership application deadline

CCIS Membership Application Deadline: Rolling until 1 week prior to course commencement date.

If you experience any difficulties with your CCIS membership application please contact creativeskillnet@furthr.ie with a Subject Heading of NCAD | CCIS Application | [Course Name]

Important: All Course Applications To Be Made Separately via CFA/NCAD.

Dates and times of the course

TBC