Bill Esler

TAGA, A Color Engineer, & Why He’ll Be Back
May 10, 2007

Meet Dimitri Ploumidis
In March 2007 Dimitri Ploumidis, a color assurance engineer at Pacific Southwest Container, presented a paper at the recent TAGA conference in Pittsburgh. He spoke to me about his thoughts on attending the conference.

Continuous education
“The technology that is supporting the graphic arts is advancing,” says Ploumidis. “It is critical to have an environment where the results of applied research can be communicated. Being part of a community that has a leading role on research and development is a process of continuous education.”

First time around
“This year’s technical conference in Pittsburgh was the first I had a chance to attend,” says to Ploumidis, noting it “exposed me to different perspectives from individuals that work on various areas, thus providing a more thorough understanding of the issues that need to be addressed.

“Presenting the results of my research, as well as attending the other presentations and afterwards talking with them, yielded significant feedback as to what is valuable for the industry and what needs to be addressed. I believe the same holds true for all presenters.”

Networking different routes
Ploumidis shared that it was an opportunity to expand his network. ; he found out that people were asking the same questions, but were following various different routes towards an answer.

“In cases like this, whether the topic is statistical process control, metallic inks, or color management, the best way to provide a solution is to join resources and knowledge. “TAGA’s conference made it easy to identify those individuals who share the same interests and start a process of collaboration towards common goals,” says Ploumidis.

Trying it again?

“Absolutely! As long as I’ve got the research to present I’ll be submitting an abstract.”

2008 is the 60th year of TAGA’s Annual Technical Conference. The ATC is the best conference for someone looking to learn about new technologies in printing and other related fields.

The conference brings you the latest in paper research from around the world. Technical sessions encompass all major branches of graphic technology, from workflow and color management to ink-on-paper, flexography, and future business models for the printing enterprise.

Paper applications for the 2008 Annual Technical Conference are now being accepted, and all interested graphic arts professionals, researchers, educators, and scientists are encouraged to apply. The submission deadline is October 1, 2007. Please go to www.taga.org for the PDF of instructions on the call for papers.

The 2008 conference will be held March 15–19, 2008, in San Francisco, California, USA at the Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf hotel. For complete conference information visit www.taga.org and click on the 2008 registration page link. Conference information will continue to update as it becomes available. To be placed on a waiting list for the conference brochure, please email gmartin@piagatf.org.

I encourage Graphic Arts Monthly readers to submit your abstracts now for consideration for next year’s conference.

Sincerely,

Dr. Mark Bohan
Managing Director, TAGA
Vice President of Research and Technology, PIA/GATF

Posted by Bill Esler on May 10, 2007 | Comments (0)