SAN LUIS OBISPO – Xerox Corp. and Electronic For Imaging, a Foster City-based company, have donated equipment to Cal Poly's Graphic Communication Department to support education in design reproduction technology – where design meets technology. Xerox donated a DocuColor 3535 color copier-printer system valued at about $26,000, and EFI donated a Splash G3535 RIP worth $25,000. These gifts are examples of the Graphic Communication Department’s partners-in-education program that brings real-world technology to the classroom. “The design technologist must be as familiar with the language and role of the graphic designer and the people involved in reproducing and distributing the designs electronically,” said Harvey Levenson, Cal Poly Graphic Communication Department head. “The technologist must understand how to transform art and copy it into a form that will look good on a computer monitor and as a high-quality printed piece. The Xerox DocuColor allows students to do just that.” Lorraine Donegan, who coordinates Cal Poly's design reproduction technology concentration, said, “It is with the support of Xerox and EFI that our students are able to work with the latest technology in digital printing and imaging. It brings the ‘real world’ into our classroom and laboratories." John Laurence, manager of Xerox Graphic Arts Premier Partners, said, “It is critical to the future of the graphic communication industry that tomorrow's printers and graphic designers have the opportunity to learn on technology currently used in the marketplace.”