SAN LUIS OBISPO – Cal Poly will celebrate International Printing Week Tuesday through Friday, Jan. 23-26, with lectures, panel discussions, a career fair and a laboratory dedication and a banquet. The annual International Printing Week commemorates Benjamin Franklin's birthday and the importance of print media in a free society, said Harvey Levenson, head of the university’s Graphic Communication Department. This year’s event includes a three-day lecture series conducted by industry leaders from across the nation. The lectures, on Jan. 23, 24 and 25, are part of the new Distinguished Scholar Lecture Series, titled “The Significance of Entrepreneurial Thinking in Today's Global Economy: A Multidisciplinary Approach.” The presentations are open to the public. Michael Cunningham, clinical professor of entrepreneurship at San Diego State University and one of the industry’s most successful leaders, will give the Distinguished Scholar Lecture from 8 to 9 p.m. Jan. 24 in Phillips Hall in the Performing Arts Center. A reception is planned after the talk. The event is free and open to the public. “The annual International Printing Week celebration at Cal Poly is our way of keeping the universal significance of print media in the minds of our students, while also recognizing and honoring some of the leading companies and individuals who have supported graphic communication education at Cal Poly,” Levenson said. Topics to be explored during the week design reproduction technology, packaging, wine label design, RFID (radio frequency identification) technology, and narrow web digital label printing. Presentations are also planned on gravure printing, a process designed for extremely long print runs -- up into the millions -- or for the highest quality printing, such as National Geographic. Thursday, Jan. 25, is dedicated to the memory of industry leaders Terry Bell and George Prue. Speakers throughout the day will address the latest management ideas in the graphic arts industry, the technologies being used to keep the industry vital and competitive, and the future of the industry. Two major gifts will be dedicated Jan. 25: A $1.55- million four-color Speedmaster CD 74 printing press installed by Heidelberg and a Trendsetter “computer-to-place” system from the Eastman Kodak Co. James Dunn, president of Heidelberg USA will give the keynote address at the Jan. 25 banquet, beginning with a reception at 6 p.m. at the Embassy Suites Hotel in San Luis Obispo. The banquet is open to the public at a cost of $65 a person. For additional information about all International Printing Week events and for banquet reservations, contact Korla McFall, at 805-756-1108 or [email protected]. A complete list of events is available at http://www.grc.calpoly.edu/printweek/index.html.