Hybrid has created a Mimaki Vehicle Wrap Lab at Oxford Brookes University. The intention is to provide hands-on experience, tuition and a commercial understanding of vehicle wrapping, branding and liveries to undergraduate engineers set for roles in Formula 1 racing.
Also involved in the project is material supplier Metamark, and vehicle wrapper Jason Price, who is employed by Corbeau Seats group to provide design, wrapping and installation services within the motorsport industry. He said of the new project: “It’s the job of the vehicle wrapper to make the car look fast and, additionally, vehicle graphics provide corporate identity making the vehicle look professional. It’s unusual to give this responsibility to the engineers, but in this instance, they’re getting first-hand experience of what’s involved, so it should stay with them throughout their careers. There are sound technical benefits to wrapping a car rather than painting it. The weight savings are huge so it’s an easy sell on purely technical grounds – let alone the benefits of how the team presents itself.”
“We’re immensely proud of the incredibly high standards of technical tuition on offer to our students, but we’re not afraid to admit that we’re completely new to wide-format printing and all that goes with it,” said Professor Gareth Neighbour, head of mechanical engineering and mathematical sciences at the university. “The extensive training and support from Hybrid and its partners has very swiftly allowed our teaching staff and technicians to get to grips with the technology and offer an exciting new component to our degree and masters courses.
“We pride ourselves in having the highest percentage of alumni in Formula 1 of all the universities and the development of the Mimaki Vehicle Wrap Lab has added yet another string to our students’ bows, being of great interest at the recent Autosport International show,” he added.
“Bringing vehicle wrapping and branding into the heart of the technology centre really helps to remind the students of the importance of how they present themselves and their teams,” said Brian Sims, Oxford Brookes MEMS advisory board member, former marketing director of the Benetton F1 team, and founder and honorary life member of the Motorsport Industry Association.
The Mimaki Vehicle Wrap Lab is located at the university’s Wheatley Campus from where Oxford Brookes Racing competes in the global Formula Student series. These cars mimic scaled down, single seater F1 models and the students are responsible for the whole look and feel of the team.
The lab houses a Mimaki wide-format printer, cutting plotter and software. Metamark is supplying a range of media and providing advice on additional opportunities for display graphics. “The new MD-X Cylinder cast film is ideal for the students to be using on the cars,” said Samantha Daulton, regional sales manager for Metamark. “We’ve also provided our RU500 LayFlat rollup material for use within the Mimaki Vehicle Wrap Lab along with wallpaper and digital frost etched window film.”