Faculty/Staff

This past week, Dr. Scott Williams won the FFTA Sun Chemical Corporation Research Fellowship at the 2009 Flexographic Technical Association Conference (FTA). The Foundation Of Flexographic Technical Association (FFTA) is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to advancing the flexographic printing process by sponsoring conferences, seminars, and workshop, collecting and evaluating technical data, and providing scholarships to advance the flexography industry. The Sun Chemical Corporation works with the FFTA to provide the $10,000 fellowship for professionals and students that are in the field of flexography and the graphic arts.

With FFTA Sun Chemical Corporation Research Fellowship, Dr. Williams and colleagues will be researching bioprinting. They are designing a medical diagnostic tool to be used in remote or under-developed locations.  The goal will be to print a “lab-on-paper” that can run and screen for a series of health condition factors or diseases.  This technology is in the forefront of a brand new area of printing.  Partners in the research will include PAL and the Rochester General Hospital.  This point-of-care technology will hopefully, when fully developed, bring low cost health care to those who are not being currently served by the health community.

Congratulations to Dr. Williams for bringing this fellowship to the School of Print Media!

Popularity: 16% [?]

RIT’s own Michael Riordan has been awarded the prestigious Educator of the Year award from the Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation (PGSF).  In addition to the award, the PGSF currently provides assistance to 220 students in 80 different colleges, through scholarships. The award recognizes excellence in instruction of the graphic communication and printing fields. Ted Ringman, Vice President of Development at PGSF said about the award, “The award is unique in that only students receiving PGSF scholarships are invited to nominate candidates.  Students nominate educators that have had a significant impact on their education and, in many cases, their lives”.

Professor Riordan, who is the sixth recipient of the Educator of the Year award, exemplifies the values recognized by the award both inside and outside of the classroom. He was recently presented the award at Graph Expo 2008 on October 27.  Professor Riordan is a nationally recognized expert in color management and workflow systems.  He provides an interesting and challenging learning environment for his students, and students respect his dedication to their education.  Riordan is the co-director of the Open Publishing Lab, and he regularly contributes to student organizations and projects, such as RIT’s Innovation Newspaper.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Twyla Cummings, Paul and Lousise Miller distinguished Professor and Graduate Program Chair in the School of Print Media, recently completed a book focused on the subject of print media distribution. The book is published by the Cary Graphic Arts Press and is the third in a series of books authored by researchers in RIT’s Printing Industry Center.

Print production is multi-faceted in that it starts with a concept or idea for a printed product and ends with that product being correctly delivered to the intended customer. The print distributor’s customer is the person, or business, which will ultimately use the printed product or sell the product to another entity.

From an academic standpoint much attention is devoted, in college level graphic communication curriculum, to the actual process of print which largely focuses on prepress and press operations. Conversely, there is less focus on what happens to the product after it comes off of a press, printer, or mail folder.

Four years ago Professor Cummings began in-depth research in the area of print media distribution. The primary focus of the research was to gain an understanding of the infrastructure required to effectively transport printed media. What resulted was a wealth of information on the structure and trends of this very complex process. More importantly, an on-going dialogue on this issue has been started.

The book looks at processes and challenges involved with the movement of printed material into the right hands in the right place and at the right time. With an emphasis on print media distribution in the United States, the intent is twofold: first to add to the literature a printed recored of the importance of the physical distribution of media as part of the print production process, and secondly to provide a text which can be utilized to enhance graphic communication curriculums in universities worldwide. It is also hoped that this text will serve the industry as a reference and be a useful business tool for print service providers and print suppliers.

Popularity: 11% [?]

A graduate of RIT, John Eldridge has been working at SPM for sixteen years and finds the hockey games a fun place to share his passion for the school—“if you really want to see school spirit, you need to go to the hockey game,” stated John.

John is a long-time hockey fan of over forty years, playing several years himself. His love of hockey allowed him to develop better relationships with his students and co-workers. He recalls, “some students joined me one game and it grew into a usual thing. Other faculty and staff members started to join and soon even outside acquaintances followed. It became a network of print people, but we were all there to have fun and forget about the classroom and work.”

RIT Tigers’ hockey games are events that everyone looks forward to, whether a student, faculty or an outside participant. The energizing atmosphere allows everyone to forget about the stresses of life and to share jokes and memories between friends.

As for John’s predictions for the game, he says: “I think it will be a close game. All five teams are capable of winning the conference. For the Tigers to win they will need to focus and not turn the puck over.”

Popularity: 8% [?]