Highlights 2017

The year started early with the call for papers and the following review process in preparation for the annual conference. The 44th iarigai International Research Conference then took place early September in the lovely Swiss city of Fribourg. The very successful Conference was hosted by the HES-SO (Haute école spécialisée de Suisse occidentale) university and the exceptional i-Print Institute led by Prof. Dr. Fritz Bircher. We warmly thank Fritz and his team for the excellent organization.

During the conference, the General Assembly of the iarigai took place, where we faced a major change in the iarigai Board staff. According to the Articles of the Association, the end of the mandate was reached for two members of the Board and for the presidency of Dr. Anne Blayo. Prior to her six years as president, she served as a member of the Board for seven years making a grand total of thirteen years advancing the interests and values of iarigai. We really want to express our great gratitude for her excellent work. Further, I want to thank all the iarigai members for their confidence as they elected me as the new president.

In early October the Printing Future Days were held in Chemnitz under the auspices of iarigai. Young researches had the opportunity to present their work. The author of the best paper was invited to speak at the 45th iarigai conference in October 2018 which will be held in Warsaw. In November the Board meeting took place in Warsaw where we could get a glance of the venues and the great hospitality of the organizers that await the conference. Together with our Polish colleagues we shall be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Department of Printing Technology of the Warsaw University of Technology, and, simultaneously, the International Circle of Educational Institutes for Graphic Arts Technology and Management (IC) will be holding their 50th annual conference at the same site. This joint conference is a great opportunity to strengthen the collaboration of the two organizations since anyway around half of the iarigai members belong to both groups. Both, the IC and iarigai publish a journal, and the plans to somehow merge the publications are very promising in order to gain more readers and popularity (e.g. impact factors).

Season’s Greetings to all iarigai members and friends and we look forward to seeing you at the 45th iarigai conference in October 2018!

Prof. Dr. Gunter Huebner

former president
Stuttgart, Germany