Toronto’s flexography community gathered at Ryerson University, last night, to celebrate the startup of a 4-colour Comco Cadet press, as the Graphic Communications Management program applies more packaging to its curriculum.
The new Comco Cadet is situated in the basement of the Heidelberg School of Graphic Communications Management on Victoria Street in downtown Toronto. After Mary Black worked for years to bring the dedicated-GCM building into existence, Dr. Abhay Sharma has steadily grown its technological infrastructure over his near 5-year tenure.
Beside the Comco sits a 4-colour Heidelberg Printmaster 74 perfecting press. A walk down the bright basement hall reveals a Xerox DocuColor 7000 and groupings of finishing and prepress technology. The basement has become a working laboratory for the program’s 400-plus students, while two decked-out Mac labs on the second floor run software from the likes of Avanti, EskoArtwork, GMG, Kodak and Xinet.
Directly across the street from the Heidelberg Centre, a large 3-story building is being remodeled for Ryerson’s School of Imaging Arts. It will hold a large-format imaging centre that GCM can access.
GCM students were on hand last night to demonstrate the Comco Cadet, as attendees – identified by a GCM-produced name badge – picked up print samples of bookmarks and stickers. The installation was spearheaded by faculty members Ian Baitz and Peter Roehrig, while strong association support came from the Flexographic Technical Association and the Canadian Flexographic Training Committee.
Industry support – in part through the Phoenix Challenge Foundation – for the acquisition of the Comco Cadet came from 3M, Canflexographics, Daetwyler, Dupont, ECP, Environmental Inks and Coatings, Flexoneering, H. Moore Printing Services, Label Supply, Pamarco, RotoMetrics, Schawk, and Williamson Printing Materials.
(Homepage image: Third-year GCM student Nate Plavnick demonstrates the Comco Cadet.)
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