Sewickley, PA, March 6, 2007 - The Ben Franklin Society, honor society to the Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF), is proud to announce that Dr. Charles Krouse, a pioneer in offset printing research and a driving force behind development of gapless Sunday press technology, has been named the recipient of the 2006 Robert F. Reed Technology Medal. In his three decades of service to Goss International predecessor companies, from Harris Corporation through Heidelberg Web Systems, Dr. Krouse conducted research that substantially increased the body of scientific data related to the design and diagnosis of press systems. His work directly enabled innovations that have had a lasting impact on the offset printing business. Dr. Krouse was recognized for groundbreaking research related to press system and offset printing process dynamics, with particular emphasis in such areas as machine vibrations, ink transfer, web transport, and signature handling. Utilizing both theoretical and experimental techniques, performance predictive models were developed, verified, and used as bases for new product design as well as for press performance diagnosis and enhancement. Dr. Krouse’s earliest well-known innovation was in the design of the M-300 web press, which allowed streak-free printing at much higher speeds than were previously possible. More recently, he was instrumental in development of the Goss Sunday press with gapless blanket technology, which allows higher print quality at faster speeds on wider webs. This breakthrough technology was honored with a PIA/GATF InterTech Award and remains a cornerstone of some of the most productive and efficient printing systems in the world. Dr. Krouse’s research was also vital to innovations such as shaftless drive systems, pinless folders, and presettable inking systems with self-learning algorithms. As vice president of research, Dr. Krouse established a full-fledged professional research laboratory at what is now Goss International’s largest manufacturing facility in Durham, NH. This laboratory allows researchers to analyze and test chemistry, heat transfer, thermal, fluid, mechanical, and electrical dynamics, and more. The environment created by Dr. Krouse allows engineers and technicians to work together to develop new designs and test them to validate their performance against predictive models. Patents are held by Dr. Krouse for a mechanism to prevent circumferential separation between blanket and plate cylinder gears, an elastic belt metering device for a printing press, and a device and method for changing the speed of sheet products. He is also an author of numerous internal technical articles and has partnered with a number of universities to sponsor graduate-level research projects. The Robert F. Reed Technology Medal will be presented to Dr. Krouse at a banquet during the 59th Annual Technical Conference of the Technical Association of the Graphic Arts (TAGA), Tuesday, March 20, 2007, at the Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh, PA. For more information on the conference, contact Cathie Meyers at [email protected] or 412-259-1706.