Rochester Institute of Technology's Printing Applications Laboratory (PAL) unveiled its new seven-color HP Indigo press ws4050 and HP Indigo press 5000 at an industry-wide event held Dec. 8 on the RIT campus. The installation of the new presses enables greater evaluation capabilities for industrial media suppliers and is integral to PAL's expansion to the Worldwide Media Center for evaluating media used on HP Indigo digital presses. Officials from Hewlett Packard and Michelman Inc. along with media suppliers of paper and specialty substrates were on hand for the press dedication. "The new seven-color HP Indigo press ws4050 enables an expansion of the services we have been proud to deliver to HP as well as its media suppliers," says Bill Garno, director of RIT's Printing Applications Laboratory. "The package printing market provides many new opportunities to leverage digital printing, including label production. All of these applications require a diverse range of substrates." During the daylong program, representatives from some of the industries leading suppliers of substrates for industrial printing applications were provided an overview of the technology behind the HP Indigo press ws4050 and the media certification process provided by RIT. In addition, suppliers learned about the additives and coatings available from Michelman aimed at enhancing substrate performance on HP indigo digital presses. The addition of the two new HP Indigo digital presses directly impacts the educational opportunities available to students in RIT's School of Print Media. "Our students will be able to work directly with the presses and learn about substrates and their applications," says Garno. "Ongoing support of our educational programs is a win for our students as they prepare for careers in the printing industry." RIT's School of Print Media, considered among the best of its kind in the world, offers undergraduate programs in graphic media and new media publishing, and a graduate program in print media. RIT is also internationally recognized as a leader in computing, imaging technology, fine and applied arts, and education of the deaf, enrolling 15,300 full- and part-time students in more than 340 career-oriented and professional programs. For well over a decade, U.S. News and World Report has ranked RIT as one of the nation's leading comprehensive universities. RIT is also included in The Fiske Guide to Colleges and Barron's Best Buys in Education.