Print Olympiad - North Zone launched

Ludhiana, February 2, 2024: The sixth edition of the Print Olympiad - India’s biggest talent hunt in printing, is in progress these days. The first round of the competition for the students currently studying in the printing institutions of North India (Central University of Haryana, Mahendergarh, GJUS&T, Hisar, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, SITM, Rewari) was organised at virtual platform on 28 January.  

Inaugurating the North Zone competitions Prof. Dr. Rajendrakumar Anayath, former Vice- chancellor, DCRUST, Sonipat (Haryana) and OSD, State University Project, Govt of Haryana said, the today’s students are lucky to join this very special competition, when we were students, we never had such an opportunity. I am thankful to Offset Printers’ Association for creating such a wonderful platform for the students in Print. 

Highlighting the necessity, concept and rules, Chief Coordinator, Dr TKS Lakshmi Priya mentioned that Print Olympiad is the brainchild of Prof. Kamal Mohan Chopra and is the only competition of its kind anywhere in the world. ‘Print Olympiad’ is now most sought-after event for the students of printing. The event is organized in association with the universities and institutions of printing in India. To give equal opportunities to the students of different regions and to make the competition more meaningful, widespread, separate competitions are conducted for the students studying in different zones. North Zone competitions, for the students studying in Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Chandigarh, are being hosted jointly by the Kurukshetra University and Central University of Haryana, Mahendargarh.

The preliminary competitions for each zone are organized on virtual platform whereas the regional finales and the national finale are to be hosted by some of the leading institution in physical mood. To select the regional top student, the competitions are organized under the supervision of regional coordinators. Two coordinators for the North Zone are Dr. Sandeep Boora, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Printing and Packaging Technology, Central University of Haryana and Kanwardeep, Dept. of Printing Technology, Institute of Mass Communication and Media Technology, Kuk. 

Speaking on the occasion, Dharmendra Pandya, President, The Federation of Corrugated Box Manufacturers of India, highlighted the importance of sustainable Printing and Packaging and scope for Printing and Packaging for the budding engineers. Highlighting the innovative packaging, he said these days packaging can indicate if the food inside is edible. He persuaded the students to learn out of box ideas, so that industry can benefit from these future oriented students.

The jury members for the North Zone competition were Surendra Jain, Director, Devashish Food Packaging and Research Pvt Ltd, Shri Rajat Gulati, Director, Packwell Containers, Yamunanagar, K B Nagpal, Retd Principal & Head, Pusa Polytechnic, New Delhi. All of them appreciated the way of organising Print Olympiad continuously for the sixth time and encouraged all the participants to excel in the field of printing and allied industries. The judges analysed the results and declared Six students eligible for the next round. Announcing the named of these students, Prof. Kamal Chopra said, this unique event has attracted the attention of printer associations all over the globe that many countries have extended their eagerness to join in such a competition. The students eligible for the next round are: Uttkarsh Dubey from Central University of Haryana, Mahendergarh; Mayank Gupta and Utshav Roy both from SITM, Rewari; Abhishek Vishwakarma and Annu both from GJUS&T, Hisar and Saurabh Setia from Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra.

Proposing the vote of thanks, in his concluding remarks Anubhava Shiksharthi said, I would like to congratulate all the participating students, because participation is the first step for winning. He thanked KU and CUH for their support and said we feel obliged with the sincerest contribution and wholehearted participation of academia for this cause. He especially thanked the chief coordinator Dr. TKS Lakshmi Priya and reginal coordinator North Zone Kamwardeep Sharma and Dr. Sandeep Boora for their dedication towards Print Olympiad.