Sensory Experiences: Bringing Printed Designs to Life

Dr Kate Stone is an English engineer and founder and CEO of the company Novalia which has developed products using “Interactive Printed Media.” She founded Novalia in 2006 to develop the use of ordinary printing presses to produce interactive electronics, with touch-sensitive inks and printed circuits. The company has worked on advertising campaigns for Bud Light, Hershey’s, IKEA, Pizza Hut, and McDonald’s. She has presented her vision of interactive print at many global forums and conferences, including on the TED stage and as part of the Penny Stamps Speaker Series held by the University of Michigan School or Art & Design. Stone’s work on interactive electronics was also featured on a television documentary for Sky Arts. Despite a degree in electronics from the University of Salford and a PhD in physics from Cambridge University, she believes the most useful things she learned in life were discovered during four years of travel through Australia and Asia, in particular working on a sheep farm for two years in the Australian outback. Stone sees herself as a “creative scientist,” blending art and science to create startling fusions of new and old technology.

Dr. Stone’s keynote will discuss the promise and approach of adding interactivity and connectivity to everyday things and why the future might look more like the past than the present.

Where Is the Future of Printing Headed?

Professor Dr. Volker Jansen worked in industry for 20 years before he was appointed professor at the Stuttgart Media University in 2012. He studied at the Bergische Universität Wuppertal and received his Ph.D. from Loughborough University in Great Britain. He began his professional career at BASF and held managerial positions in the company’s photopolymer business in Malaysia, Great Britain, and Germany. During that time, he was responsible for many developments in the application of BASF technology. Beginning in 2006 Dr. Jansen headed the holding company of a group of companies operating in the media sector (pre-media, print and post-press).His international experience and his knowledge of printing technology helped him to found an English-language bachelor’s degree in Print Media Technologies with his fellow professors in 2018. He has published numerous research papers and is involved in several patents.

Dr. Jansen will summarize his recent work at extrapolating trends and predicting their impact on printing.

How Sustainability Concerns Are Influencing Package Design

As the Senior Director – New Product Commercialization at WestRock, Walling is responsible for managing the development of innovative packaging, spurred in part due by consumer products companies re-evaluating the sustainability of their packaging choices.  His perspective is that of the client, having gained insight into packaging trends as WestRock’s design head for food and beverage products, and a decade earlier, as the design manager for beverage packaging for MeadWestvaco. He has 17 years of experience in the packaging industry, and has worked with many of today’s leading brands. He is the holder of several packaging-related patents.

Walling will share with the TAGA audience how brands are reacting to mounting scrutiny of the sustainability of their packages and the resulting innovations from WestRock and other carton converters.

Process and Workflow Innovations in Digital Textile Printing

Kerry Maguire King is senior director, process innovation for textiles and wallpaper for Shutterfly, the internet retailer best known for its photography and personalized products. For most of the last decade, she was director of research and development for Spoonflower, an internet-based company acquired by Shutterfly in 2021 that provided on-demand digital printing of textiles and wallpaper. King is a recognized speaker and author in the digital textile printing area and has professional experience in sewn product development, apparel fit and sizing, and emerging technologies for the apparel industry, including 3D technology for apparel design. She received her master’s degree in clothing and textiles from the University of Alberta, with an emphasis on African textile design.

King will explain recent and expected developments that will impact the speed, cost, and design options for textiles being produced with digital printing devices.