Maybe you don’t know, but the academic organisation for the digital printing industry is the IS&T (Society for Imaging Science and Technology). I’ve been a member since the 1970’s, when it was the SPSE (Society for Photographic Science). In 1981 the very first annual Non-Impact Printing Conference was held in Venice, Italy, but that was the only time in Europe, until this year! The title has changed over the years, and this year it has become Printing for Fabrication 2016 - Materials, Applications, and Processes, reflecting the increasing use of mainly inkjet technology for a very wide range of fabrication and dispensing applications. But the coverage is very broad, with all forms of digital printing, textiles, security printing and of course 3D and fabrication technologies and materials.
The event lasts a whole week, September 12-16, and is being held at Manchester University in the UK. During the week there are:
- 5 keynotes
- 16 short courses
- 142 academic paper presentations
- Exhibits
- Lab tours of the University
- Even a pub crawl!
It will be a truly international event with leading scientific delegates from around the world and from all of the major suppliers to the industry. It is also of course backed by all of the leading universities and research institutes from across Europe.
If you’ve never been to one of these events before then do take a look at the programme at http://www.imaging.org/site/IST/Conferences/NIP/IST/Conferences/NIP/Printing_For_Fabrication_NIP.aspx.
I’ll be there all week meeting up with contacts from years past - young engineers from 30 years ago who are now senior executives. I’ll also be running a couple of the courses:
- Inkjet Drop-on-Demand Printheads - a 2 hour review of what’s currently available, explaining how they differ not just in specification but also operating characteristics
- Insight into New Inkjet Technological Developments from Patent Literature - Many of you know of Pivotal Resources patent review service and in this course I’ll be looking at some of the recent revelations
There are some other courses from colleagues too:
- Digital Textile Printing: Applications, Markets, and Technology - Tim Phillips of IMI Europe and Catenary Solutions
- Inkjet Pigment and Dispersion Technology - Alan Hudd of Alchemie Technology
So do take this opportunity to be at this large gathering of industry professional in 6 weeks time. Also join the event LinkedIn group, already with nearly 800 members! https://www.linkedin.com/groups/3498231
It will be a great week, but a tip from me - bring an umbrella!
Printing for Fabrication 2016
Materials, Applications, and Processes
The 32nd International Conference on Digital Printing Technologies (NIP)
Manchester, United Kingdom
12-16 September, 2016