NOTE PRINTING GRADUATE WINS LIA AWARD

Angus McGrath, a graduate printer from Note Printing Australia, has been named winner of the biennial LIA Heidelberg Graduate of the Year.

Bradley Purcell, who works in prepress with MCC, was awarded the Ball & Doggett Future Leaders prize.

All eight state winners from the past two years were at the LIA awards event, which took place during Visual Impact.

Graduate of the Year McGrath will now receive a $10,000 bursary to invest in his print education, with which he will travel to Switzerland to spend time with banknote press manufacturer KBA and ink manufacturer Sicpa.

Purcell receives a $5000 bursary for bis own print education. Together the two sums add up to one of the biggest graduate award totals in any industry.

McGrath’s employer Note Printing Australia is one of the country’s big manufacturing success stories. Its innovative polymer banknotes are being taken up by an increasing number of countries. MCC which employs Purcell is one of the major international label printing businesses, with plants all over ANZ.

Both winners thanked the judges, the LIA, the sponsors, as well as their mentors and trainers. The judges said going through the submissions was a “humbling experience” as they heaped praise on the quality of the submissions from all eight candidates.

Event sponsors were Visual Connections, Ball & Doggett and Heidelberg, which has actually been sponsoring the event since its inception in 1985. Dierk Wissman, national sales manager at Heidelberg told the candidates that “I’m sure you will all have bright futures.”

LIA president Mel Ireland said that the print industry was “large, connected and loyal” and encouraged the candidates to make the most of all opportunities, and to look up form their own bubbles to the wider industry.

Tony Bertrand, marketing manager at sponsor Ball & Doggett, called on the industry to get behind its young people, chastising the leaders who were not present at the event. He told the young people, “It’s a creative industry, it’s an exciting industry, it’s an industry that young people need to see the many opportunities that are open to them.”

Ben Eaton, vice president of Visual Connections and CEO of Starleaton, said, “As a second generation print business owner these awards are personally important to me. We all have a responsibility to encourage young people.”

Also on the night LIA members Andrew Reynolds and Gordon Wilson were awarded Associate Fellow status.

All winners: The candidates for the Graduate of the Year event with Dierk Wissman