Next public courses:

June 28-29, 2010, University of Westminster, London, UK

October 25-26, 2010, Sheraton Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

 Course leaders

Course outline

The Ink Jet Academy provides a programme and format to get an expert start in the ink jet field, to get an update or to open up new ink jet fields.

Understanding the fundamentals is a prerequisite to any development. The Ink Jet Academy offers a one and one-half day course covering the basic theory of all the diverse types of ink jet technology in use today. Learn how the printheads work, what materials are used in their fabrication and the theory of operation. Learn about inks and media used, how they are formulated and the supply and support systems used. This course assumes a basic scientific knowledge and will provide a useful background to anyone entering the ink jet industry or seeking an efficient update of ink jet technology.
Course Leaders
Mike Willis,
Managing Director
Pivotal Resources Limited
Cambridge, England

Mr Willis founded Pivotal Resources, a consultancy in the digital printing industry, in late 1995. He has experience in a wide range of technologies and markets including drop-on-demand and continuous ink jet printing, electrophotographic technology, greyscale and colour reproduction methods and light sensitive materials.

Prior to Pivotal Resources, Mike was Director of Electronic Printing at Meta Generics, a founder member of Xaar, Group Leader of NIP at Cambridge Consultants Ltd, and a physicist at Gestetner Ltd developing photocopier processes.

Mr Willis graduated from the Polytechnic of Central London with an honours degree in Photographic Sciences.
.
 Dr Alan L Hudd, CEO
Xennia Technology Limited
Letchworth, Hertfordshire, England

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.

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
Day 1

INTRODUCTION
• Course overview
• Types of ink jet technology
• Brief history
• Drop on demand technologies
• Thermal & piezo ink jet
• State of the art
• Office & SOHO markets & applications

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS
• Evolution of industrial ink jet printing
• Technology advances
• Printheads & printers
• Ink technologies
• Current status & emerging applications

1:00 - 2:00 pm Lunch

INK TECHNOLOGY
• Understanding the ink jet printing process
• Designing an ink jet ink
- Piezo drop on demand
- Continuous ink jet
- Thermal ink jet
• Properties influencing ink jet performance
• Typical performance issues
• Diagnosing typical ink problems
• Ink types: solvent, aqueous & UV cure
• Testing an ink for reliability: Methods & characterization
 Day 2

DOD PRINTHEAD DESIGNS AND VENDORS
• Thermal ink jet
• Piezo ink jet
- Piston mode designs
- Roof mode actuators
- Stacked piezo technology
- Shear mode designs
- Silicon printheads

MATERIALS FOR INK JET INKS
• Typical material requirements for successful ink jet printing
• Polymers, dyes & pigments
• Pigment dispersion technology & processing techniques
• Key suppliers
• Advances in UV curing ink technology
• Formulation considerations
• Challenges, properties & current performance

DOD PRINTHEAD DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
• Drop ejection frequency
• Crosstalk
• Printhead life
• Temperature control
• Drop placement accuracy
• Considerations for page arrays
• Greyscale techniques
• Drive waveforms

PRINT & IMAGE QUALITY
• Factors affecting print quality
• Technologies to improve print quality
• Improving image quality

1:00 - 2:00 pm Lunch

SYSTEM DESIGN ISSUES
• Nozzle maintenance
• Drop detection
• Filling/bubble removal
• Ink supply and replacement

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
• Evolution of current technology
• Hardware & ink technology advancements
• Status & developments of ink technology
• Important future applications
• Recent & projected trends