New York - The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), one of Australia's leading educational institutions, is preparing its students for success as graphic communications professionals by teaching them how to use XMPie software. Lecturers in RMIT's International Centre of Graphic Technology (School of Design TAFE) set-up XMPie's PersonalEffect cross-media personalization solution in their classrooms four years ago.  The program also received a significant technological boost from donations of several DocuColor, DocuTech and Fuji Xerox printers by Fuji Xerox.

The inclusion of PersonalEffect in the classroom provides RMIT students with real-world knowledge, working with a robust variable data print and cross-media solution. It lets students experience the advantages of using one tool to create communications across all media-print, Web and e-mail-and its native use of the Adobe Creative Suite and Adobe InDesign Server gives students the opportunity to learn personalization and variable data as a new layer on top of an industry-standard design application. In fact, RMIT lecturers added Adobe InDesign training into their curriculum and developed their own XMPie tutorials to ensure students' success.

"The students enjoy working with XMPie, especially when they see its unique, logical approach to variable data and cross-media," said Simon Cochaud, director, International Centre of Graphic Technology, RMIT. "It has increased their personal enjoyment of learning and mastering this leading technology as part of their formal education has provided them with a solid foundation for their future careers in digital printing and cross-media communications."

The school teaches the PersonalEffect solution across three of its Printing and Graphic Arts programs-Digital Production, Multimedia and Print Machining. In the four years the program has been in place, RMIT has graduated more than 450 students with XMPie experience into the workforce.

"We appreciate the partnership with XMPie to leverage this world-class software and know-how for the greater advantage of our students and the ultimate benefit of the industry as a whole," said Cochaud. "At the end of each year, we receive a significant number of inquiries for graduating students, solely because of their familiarity with XMPie. This year I had to turn down several employers' requests for available graduates, because all of our 2009 graduates obtained jobs. That speaks volumes about the success of the program and demand for XMPie experience in the market."