Wolfgang Pfizenmaier, CEO of Heidelberg Digital, joined RIT leaders to celebrate the start of construction on the Heidelberg Web Press Laboratory. The facility will house a multi-million dollar web press that the company is providing to RIT. Joining him at a ceremonial groundbreaking were William Buckingham, RIT Board of Trustees chairman; William Sheeran, Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies director; Albert Simone, RIT president; Amy Pike, RIT alumna; and Joan Stone, College of Imaging Arts and Sciences dean. An 11,000 square-foot facility will house a new Sunday 2000 commercial web press, made possible through the university’s partnership with Heidelberg. A ceremony marking the occasion was held along the northern side of the Louise M. Slaughter Building on RIT’s Henrietta campus. This September, Heidelberg announced its initiative to make their latest web press available to faculty and students in RIT’s print and graphic media program. The Sunday 2000 will replace an M-1000 web press donated in 1986. The new press, valued on the market at between $7 and $10 million, will join a long list of advanced Heidelberg technology already in use at RIT. In addition to educational opportunities for students and the industry, RIT conducts extensive applied research on campus for web offset printers and suppliers. The university’s Printing Applications Laboratory (PAL) will be a primary beneficiary of the new press. PAL offers crucial guidance to industry managers seeking more efficient methods of operation, including the integration of electronic with traditional printing.