The first inkjet conference gets tremendous success

-Bringing first-class expertise from academic world and corporate technical experts into one location

An excellent collection point for today’s experts in the world of digital printing. That is how Stefano Corradini, Sidel SpA, described ESMA’s inaugural The Inkjet Conference (www. theijc.com) held recently, sponsored by enabling partner drupa, in Neuss (Düsseldorf). Rick Hulme (Sun Chemical) said, “It was a new and exciting conference which has brought the industry together to discuss inkjet, its capabilities and opportunities both now and in the future,” while Ian Clark (Intrinsiq Materials) described it as “A varied and wide-ranging conference highlighting applications and the future.” According to Friedrich Goldner (Marabu), the event had, “Excellent presentations covering a wide span of inkjet printing applications and a good number of potential industrial users. The tabletops gave excellent networking opportunities to further exchange on ideas and trends. It was a very worthwhile event to attend.”

The two-day, multi-subject educational conference brought together industry and academic leaders in their fields who spoke about the latest advances and future developments driving digital print. It included a focus on inkjet engineering, a review on fluid and ink components such as nano particles, conductive, aqueous and UV inks and an academic track open to all universities and non-commercial research institutes to present their work.

There were over 30 different presentations with topics as varied as UV-LED systems, piezo inkjet for precision dispensing of functional materials, system integration: an ink point of view, improving inkjet industry by implementing intelligent sensors, and industrial inkjet for packaging. Steve Knight, founder of Digital Direct, who runs The Inkjet Conference, was overwhelmed by industry interest with more than 300 attendees eger to learn about inkjet for industrial applications from 38 exhibitors and 41 speakers.

Founded in 1990 ESMA (European Specialist Printing Manufacturer’s Association) is a non-profit organisation. Based in Belgium, it represents manufacturers, printers and consultants from screen, digital or pad printing technology and includes machinery, software, inks, consumables, chemicals and substrates.