San Luis Obispo – In its continued effort to educate the best and brightest to enter the graphic communication industry and lead it in the future, Cal Poly’s Graphic Communication Department has unveiled the Dow Jones & Company Web Printing Laboratory.
 
With heavy support from industry partners, the department has expanded its educational offerings in publication printing by doubling the page count and color capacity of its web publication press. The addition of four-units makes it an eight-unit web press.
 
Beginning with a $110,000 grant from the Dow Jones Foundation (publisher of the Wall Street Journal), Manugraph DGM provided the additional four units added to the original press donated by Goss. Baldwin Technologies donated a spray dampening system, Quad Tech provided an automatic register control, and MEGTEC provided an infeed and splicer for the original press. Kodak, Fujifilm and Trelleborg proved the consumables.
 
The lab, in a standalone building, was named and dedicated during ceremonies conducted during Cal Poly’s four-day International Printing Week lecture series and related events in January.
 
“While we often hear rumors of print’s demise, at Cal Poly we focus on educating students in areas where print will grow and flourish in the future,” said Harvey Levenson, head of the Graphic Communication Department. “Newspapers and related publications will change in looks, application and methods of production. Understanding these areas and anticipating how they will serve the information needs of society is where the opportunities will be and where we focus.
 
“The Dow Jones lab furthers our ability to research and teach how expanded color, Quick Response codes, and additional pages for editorial and advertising can enhance the appeal of print. The main beneficiary of our expanded web press capabilities will be Cal Poly’s daily newspaper, the Mustang Daily (the nation’s only daily campus newspaper fully produced by students on campus). The newspaper involves collaboration between the Graphic Communication and Journalism departments and epitomizes the university’s Learn by Doing philosophy.”
 
Paul Cousineau, Cal Poly honored alum and director of Innovation and Quality Control for Dow Jones, said the project is part of a mission shared by the university and Dow Jones.
 
“The printed word still has value even in digital times,” Cousineau said. “In teaching print as part of the art of communication, we provide a laboratory for a new generation for whom words still matter – no matter the medium.”
 
The Dow Jones & Company Web Printing Laboratory will be used for Cal Poly’s academic Graphic Communication program (www.grc.calpoly.edu) and for industry seminars, workshops and training offered by the university’s Graphic Communication Institute (www.grci.calpoly.edu).