Coating & Ink Research Institute Will Host Open House

Demonstrations of high tech printing-related test equipment imported from Testprint in the Netherlands will be among the highlights of an open house at the Coating and Ink Research Institute (CIRI) in Bethlehem on Wednesday, April 15.  

This equipment will expand the range of testing the Institute provides to help printers, packaging firms, manufacturers of ink, fountain solution, paper, film, presses and press accessories make their products and processes more productive, cost-effective, sustainable and environmentally friendly. The Institute's specialties include diagnosis and solutions for printing problems, facilitating experiments with new materials and manufacturing processes without shutting down production and demonstrating that large expenditures will pay off.  The Institute, originally at Lehigh University, moved to Northampton Community College in 2005. Clients have included DuPont, Exxon Mobil, Union Carbide, the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Washington Post, and local printers. 

Guests will tour the Institute's new labs in Northampton's Fowler Family Southside Center and to hear presentations by some of the world's leading experts in printing research ranging from challenges facing offset printing, switching to UV and EB cure inks, and integrating ink jet.  Additionally, TestPrint scientists will give an overview of their instruments for proof printing lithographic, flexographic, and gravure inks, for precision testing of paste ink tack and, for emulsification of lithographic ink and fountain solution, all valued for predicting on-press performance.  

The Institute's equipment that will be demonstrated includes: proof printers for offset, gravure, flexographic and screen process Rheometers and viscometers to characterize inks UV, EB and conventional ink curing/drying equipment, dispersion equipment for ink preparation and characterization of degree of dispersion, print quality characterization including color, gloss, chemical and abrasion resistance.

To register, contact Brenda Weppel at 610-861-5088 or bweppel@northampton.edu.

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