Register interest

If you are interested in attending the IJA Practice course please follow the link and complete the on-line form. We will acknowledge your request and hold a place for you on the dates requested. Final confirmation, details and an invoice will be sent to you around 8 weeks before the course begins.

Courses are limited to groups of 12 with a minimum of 8.

Next public course- to be held in Letchworth, UK

November 17-20, 2008

Introduction
The Inkjet Academy ‘Practice of Inkjet Technology’ offers the first dedicated practical inkjet course aimed at chemists and technologists looking to develop and enhance their inkjet experience. Covering all important aspects necessary in the development and formulation of reliable inkjet fluids and inkjet system configuration, the course provides the ideal platform for laboratory staff looking to improve their knowledge of inkjet for industrial applications.

The course draws upon Xennia’s extensive industrial inkjet experience of ink formulation and industrial inkjet integration. Combining in-depth classroom taught theory sessions with practical demonstrations and experiments, course attendees will have the opportunity to formulate and evaluate inks and perform jetting trials with a range of high tech industrial printing platforms at Xennia’s state-of-the-art inkjet laboratories located near Cambridge, UK.

The Practice course is open to individuals from any company. Each attendee will be expected to understand the principles of ink jet printing, although a short introduction will be given. Therefore to gain maximum benefit, we recommend prior attendance at the Theory of Ink Jet Technology course.

Location
Xennia’s modern laboratories are located in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, UK. Letchworth is 35 minutes from London by train and equidistant with Cambridge. We will provide details of local hotel accommodation in nearby Hitchin and provide transport to and from Xennia at the start and end of each day.

Course Leaders
Dr. Alan L Hudd, President & CEO
Xennia Technology Limited
Letchworth, Hertfordshire, UK

In 1996, Dr. Hudd founded Xennia Technology; the world’s first independent contract ink jet technology house dedicated to the industrial and office inkjet industries.

Since then, Dr. Hudd has grown Xennia into a leading player in the rapidly emerging market for industrial inkjet technologies. Under Dr. Hudd, Xennia has developed a unique set of inkjet chemistry, engineering and problem solving capabilities that has resulted in a number of important technology innovations, especially in the field of inkjet dispensing of difficult materials.

Prior to establishing Xennia, Dr. Hudd was for 8 years the Fluids Technology Manager at Domino Printing Sciences, developing a wide range of inkjet inks for diverse applications and is credited with a number of patents and significant innovations within the industrial inkjet industry. He spent almost eight years with the Ministry of Defence and Royal Ordnance in the UK, developing new solid polymer rocket propellants for air to air missiles. Dr. Hudd graduated with B.Sc. Honours degree in Chemistry and Physics, M.Sc and Ph.D research degrees in Polymer Chemistry from Manchester University.

Xennia is the world’s leading chemistry driven industrial inkjet integrator. Xennia provides a complete contract R&D service to support the development of a new application. Xennia supplies printers and inks for production line solutions to OEM’s and end-users across a range of industrial applications. Xennia is part of the Royal Tencate Group.

Course outline - typical schedule
Monday

1:30 p.m.
Welcome & course outline

Overview of inkjet printing (Lecture)

Introduction to ink design and testing
(Lecture)
• Critical aspects for the formulation of reliable inkjet fluids
• Physical properties of inkjet inks
• Ink types, (UV, Solvent, Aqueous, Oil)

Technology demonstrations (Practical)
• Hands on experience of operating a range of inkjet printing equipment

5:30 p.m. Adjournment
Tuesday

9:00 a.m.
Overview of ink manufacturing
(Lecture)
• Ink manufacturing process, mixing, milling, dispersions and filtration
• Scale up from lab to manufacture
• Manufacturing quality control practices

Practical Ink Making
(Practical)
Attendees will gain practical experience of formulating and characterizing inkjet fluids to include key aspects of:

• Mixing
• Preparing pigment dispersions
• Filtration
• Physical characterization and QC process

Lunch

Continuation of practical session

5:30 p.m. Adjournment

7:00 p.m. Course dinner
Wednesday

9:00 a.m.
Overview of inkjet characterization techniques (Lecture)

Inkjet characterization of different inks and diagnosing performance
(Practical)
Practical demonstration using visualization equipment to show:

• The effect of waveform on drop break-up, ligament and satellite formation for good and bad inks
• Droplet break-up
• Ligament behavior
• Satellite formation

Lunch

Overview of measuring application and substrate properties of print (Lecture)
• Image characterization techniques
• Factors affecting print quality
• Techniques to measure adhesion, scratch resistance, abrasion, optical density and other end user properties

End user property measurement of inks (Lecture)
• Overview of application specific print performance parameters

5:30 p.m. Adjournment
Thursday

9:00 a.m.
Inkjet Configurations
(Lecture)
• Overview of typical inkjet configurations
• XYZ printing systems
• Reel to reel/web based systems
• Fixed array/scanning

Inkjet Configuration demonstrations (Practical)
Practical demonstrations of printing systems incorporating scanning, fixed array, XY and web based units

Lunch

Inkjet integration and maintenance issues (Lecture)
• Managing ink, fluid and motion system for printer reliability
• Integration examples
• Typical modes of failure and trouble shooting

Integration and maintenance demonstrations (Practical)
Practical demonstrations of:
• Priming and wetting
• Typical maintenance regimes
• Correct procedure for filling print heads

Current inkjet developments and trends (Lecture)
• Developments in printhead technology
• Overview of established, emerging and embryonic applications for inkjet

Inkjet Surgery
Ask the experts!
• Question and answer sessions

5:30 p.m. Adjournment
Course fees
The cost of the IJA Practice course is £2,500 or equivalent in Euro or US$, plus UK VAT. The fee includes course notes, lunches, course dinner, breaks. Not included is hotel accommodation.