Ever heard of an Ink Lab? Pune's PVG's College just got one step closer to getting their students 'inked' in style

PVG's College of Technology in Pune established an Ink Lab recently. We find out about how this lab will help, the state of the print industry and the scope for students who are studying print tech
At the inauguration of the Ink Lab
At the inauguration of the Ink Lab

The printing industry has always been in the news worldwide; like recently, the principles of 3D printing and photochemistry were combined to form a digital patch that could repairs hearts. In our country, it made the news in Pune on March 31, 2017. The 32-year-old Printing Engineering department of PVG’s College of Engineering and Technology, Pune in collaboration with Siegwerk, a 180-year-old manufacturer of printing inks, in association with Parakh Agro Industries Ltd, established a one-of-its-kind Ink Lab.      

Shooting up: The CEO says that while the traditional print market in the newspaper and magazine category is shrinking, the packaging industry is growing at a rapid pace
  
Show and tell: The Printing Department at PVG’s College of Engineering and Technology, Pune comprises of pre-press, press, post-press and testing laboratories testing laboratories

 
Equipped with special equipment such as a printability analyser, mottle tester, rotational viscometer, missing dot analyser and surface tensiometer, Dr Akshay Joshi, a professor from the Printing Engineering department, talks about the lab, “It will benefit the students by carrying out in-depth analysis and correlate with printing problems being faced by the industry.” 

Happy beginnings: Ashish Pradhan, CEO, Siegwerk India, Harshal Parakh, Director, Parakh Agro and  Vinay Nalawade, Director, Parakh Flexipacks launching the Ink Lab at PVG’s College of Engineering and Technology, Pune

The CEO of Siegwerk India, Ashish Pradhan, gives us more insight into the print industry, sharing that printing is an integral part of the packaging industry. “In India, the commercial print industry is gaining, but at a slower pace than the packaging market. With multinational brands coming in, Indian brands moving into the international arena, consumerism growing at a rapid pace — the quality of printing has gone up tremendously,” says the CEO. But of course, the company identified India as one of the drivers of growth and thought it prudent to invest in the development of packaging; invest in the future. So for the first time, they formed a partnership in India. “The best way to get in global standards is to start setting high standards from the college level itself,” states Dr Joshi.

Crossing a decade: The Indian operations of Siegwerk is now into its 11th year with a factory in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan and offices spread across India

Being efficient: The lab will benefit the students carrying out in-depth analysis and correlating with printing problems


The benefits of the new lab to the industry will not only be restricted to employable graduates, but will extend to handling the challenges faced as the print industry in association with the institute to undertake research projects for achieving SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-Bound) goals, the professor informs us. “Such a joint effort will benefit in smoother operation, improving the processes, reducing operating costs, and increasing the productivity and profitability of an organisation,” he says.


Talking about the career options and the interest of students in this field, the professor tells us that the undergraduates are recruited by the industries as graduate trainee engineers. A majority of the students are employed in various sectors such as Ink, Substrate, Print Production, Packaging, Converting, and so on. 

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