Shadab Alam Top Print Student – East Zone

The East Zone finale for the sixth edition of Print Olympiad – 2024, organized by the Offset Printers Association (OPA) was hosted by the Regional Institute of Printing Technology (RIPT) at Jadavpur, Kolkata. Speaking on the necessity and benefits of Print Olympiad, Prof. Kamal Mohan Chopra, Project Chairman said, launched in 2014, Print Olympiad is one of the major contributions of Offset Printers Association (OPA) for the development and growth of printing and packaging industry. Print Olympiad is the biggest talent hunt for printing in India and the only competition of its kind anywhere in the world. The competition is initiated to persuade the students for out of box ideas and knowledge beyond the books, because, due to the fast developments in technology, it is difficult to foresee where the global printing market is heading. What will be the survival point for the existing printing units against the internet? How to survive in the increasing global competition? There may be many such questions every printer wants to understand for his future survival. Innovative business models pave the way for a secure future. It is essential to prepare the printing and packaging industry of India to withstand these challenges, to invest in the right and future technologies in Print. 

‘Print Olympiad’ is now most sought-after event for the students of printing. The event is organized in collaboration 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, and approachable to all, separate competitions are conducted for the students studying in all the four different zones. The procedure of selection is very simple, but transparent and unmatched. Three to Five eligible students are shortlisted from each zone through virtual MCQ tests during the preliminary rounds. To get a top student of the region, the final round for these selected students is hosted by one of the leading printing institutions in physical mood, where the students are invited to speak on any one of Five topics given on the spot by eminent judges. The preliminary MCQ test and regional finale is conducted in the presence of impartial eminent judges invited from the industry/academia/administration. The selections up to this level are held under the control and supervision of regional coordinators and under the guidance of Chief Coordinator. The top four students, one each from North, South, East and West are eligible for the national level competition, to be held physically, at some leading institution in the presence of a National/International Jury. The top print student of the country is awarded a certificate and the prize money of Rs. 1,00,000/.

Students often have fresh perspectives and are more inclined to think outside the box. Encouraging entrepreneurship among them can lead to the creation of innovative solutions to various problems. Mr Jayanta Banerjee, Director of Technical Education and Training, Government of West Bengal and Chief Guest of the event emphasized the importance of entrepreneurship during his inaugural address at the East Zone Finale of the Print Olympiad 2024. 

He congratulated the participants for reaching the finale and said, entrepreneurship requires a diverse skill set including problem-solving, communication, leadership, and financial management. Engaging in entrepreneurial activities helps students develop and refine these skills, which are valuable in both personal and professional life.

Earlier the event was initiated by a wonderful inaugural song sung by students of Regional Institute of Printing Technology, followed by the lighting of the lamp by Jayanta Banerjee, Director of Technical Education and Training, Government of West Bengal, who served as the Chief Guest of the event. Meet Jain, Director of Stylo Media Pvt Ltd was the Guest of Honour. Haroprosad Mondal, Principal-in-Charge of the institute was the Chief Patron of the event. Manu Choudhury, Director of CDC Printers Kolkata served as the keynote speaker. The event was moderated by coordinators of EZPO, Dr Arpitam Chatterjee, Associate Professor, Dept. of Printing Engineering and Shankhya Debnath, Lecturer, Dept. of Printing Technology, Regional Institute of Printing Technology, Kolkata. The dignitaries were felicitated by Prof Kamal Mohan Chopra on behalf of OPA and Haroprosad Mondal on behalf of Regional Institute of Printing Technology.

Meet Jain, Guest of Honour, encouraged the students to become true professionals and imbibe the spirit of printing. Haroprosad Mondal expressed his gratitude to the organizing committee for selecting the Regional Institute of Printing Technology as the host of EZPO 2024 and wished the students best. Dr Arpitam Chatterjee expressed his happiness in conducting EZPO for the print students of eastern region and thanked Prof Chopra for organizing the event and RIPT for hosting the event. Shankhya Debnath expressed the special nature that RIPT has as an educational institute and of it being the only institute of its kind to offer admission to students from other states from eastern India and welcomed all dignitaries and guests on the august day.

Keynote address of Manu Choudhury, Director CDC Printers, on Generative AI remained the star attraction and thrilled the audience with a hands-on demonstration of Generative AI and its application in Printing industry. He explained in detail, how AI can be leveraged to yield maximum benefits for industry. He also showed how at CDC Printers customers and the organization has aligned its workflow with this AI technology enabling task completion within a fraction of a time as compared to conventional methods.

Later participation certificates were distributed to all the eligible participants from East Zone. Introducing the six finalists for the East Zone Dr Arpitam Chatterjee said, seven students were shortlisted for the regional finale viz., Shadab Alam (Jadavpur University), Vishwarup De (Jadavpur University), Harshit Chaturvedi (Jadavpur University), Binita Biswas (Jadavpur University), Suyash Srivastava (Jadavpur University), Oishi Chakraborty (Regional Institute of Printing Technology) and Waliul Haque (Regional Institute of Printing Technology), since Binita Biswas is not present due to health issues only six out of these are participating.  

Students were invited one by one in alphabetical order, to speak at least for five minutes on any one topic out of given five, one each by the five jury members. The finale was judged by a panel of eminent judges from industry and academia, which included Amitabh Luthra, Director of Printers Supply Co Pvt Ltd, Kolkata, Saptangshu Chaudhuri, Associate VP-Production, ABP Pvt. Ltd., Subhrajit Ray, Press and Forms Manager, Government of West Bengal. Dr. Shilpi Naskar, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Printing Engineering, Jadavpur University and Krishnendu Halder, HoD & Lecturer, Dept. of Printing Technology, Regional Institute of Printing Technology. 

Shadab Alam from Jadavpur University is declared the ‘Top Print Student – East Zone’ by the jury members, while Vishwarup De remained the 1st runner up and Suyash Srivastava the 2nd runner up during East Zone Finale of Print Olympiad 2024. The winners were given certificates by Prof Chopra, Mondal and Dr Chatterjee.