ATLANTA, GA - The National Printing Ink Research Institute (NPIRI) 2016 Technical Achievement and Technical Associate Member Service award recipients ceremony were announced during this year’s NPIRI Fall Technical Conference, October 25-27 in Oak Brook, Illinois.

Dr. Kumar Menon of Sun Chemical earned the 2016 Technical Achievement Award, which is bestowed annual to honor a person who has been in a technical capacity in the printing ink industry in recognition of his or her contribution to the advancement of printing ink technology.   Dr. Menon has more than thirty years of experience in the area of energy curing systems and is widely recognized by his peers as a chemist with vast expertise in graphic arts substrate technology and printing process applications.  He was the first to formulate a dedicated NVP –free and amine-free UV screen ink system for the compact disc and DVD markets, focusing on adhesion, shrinkage and curing rates.  He developed UV inks for outdoor screen use on polyester coated metal, offering superior adhesion and chemical resistance characteristics, as well as UV curing offset inks for optical discs; for decoration of glass products, screen and offset inks for credit cards; and for OEM panel displays for the automotive and appliance industries and 100% solids UV sprayable products for plastics and glass.

The TAM Service Award was given Dr. JoAnn Arceneaux of Allnex to recognize and honor her as an outstanding individual who, as a supplier to the printing ink industry, has played a major role in the progress of printing ink technology.  Dr. JoAnn Arceneaux has thirty years of experience in the energy curable industry and has contributed to new product development for the energy curable printing industry, resulting in the commercialization of numerous oligomers that are used in the manufacture of inks and coatings. She has also shared her expertise on energy curable raw materials by presenting on energy curable paste inks at multiple industry events, through technical publications and product literature.  Throughout her career, Dr. Arceneaux has shown dedication and a willingness to try new approaches to advance printing technologies, resulting in new product lines, and advances in food packaging and the printing ink industry.