Technical Association of Graphic Arts Announces 2015 Board of Directors

The Technical Association of Graphic Arts (TAGA), the only global professional technical association for the graphic arts industries, is pleased to announce the 2015 incoming officers and members of the Board of Directors. The new board entered their positions following the conclusion of the 67th TAGA Annual Technical Conference, which took place in March this year in Albuquerque, NM. These new members are key industry and academic leaders from top companies and technical universities supporting the graphic arts industry worldwide.

President—David Niles, Sappi Fine Paper

David Niles, Senior Print and Converting Scientist, Sappi Fine Paper, has been with Sappi/SD Warren for 30 years and involved in the graphic arts industry for 25 years. His responsibilities include implementing printing and publishing research strategies and market feasibility studies. He works with marketing, sales, and operations representatives on new product development, current product reliability, and quality efforts. An expert on ink and paper interaction, web offset, commercial offset, flexo printing, and digital printing paper products, David also manages cooperative research projects with co-suppliers to the printing industry. He is Sappi’s technical representative to the printing industry and works on a number of technical committees, which include: Printing Industries of America’s (PIA) Research Committee, Print Properties Committee, GRACoL Committee, SWOP Committee, and CGATS.

New officers include:

Executive Vice President—Dr. Liam O’Hara, Associate Professor, Department of Graphic Communications, Clemson University

Immediate Past President—Dr. Don Duncan, Director of Research, Wikoff Color Corporation

Vice President, Marketing—Udi Arieli, Sr. Director of Product Management, EFI

Vice President, Membership—Tim Payne, Director of Printing and Technical Services, Gateway Packaging Company

Vice President, Education—Dr. Yu-Ju (Mandy) Wu, Assistant Professor, Department of Technology and Environmental Design, Appalachian State University

New Board members include:

Paul Cousineau, Vice President, Prepress, Continuous Improvement and IT Operations, Dow Jones and New York Post

Bruce Leigh Myers, Ph.D., Resident Assistant Professor, School of Media Sciences, Rochester Institute of Technology

Dawn Nye, Production Print Solutions and Services Marketing Manager, Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA

Brenda Pang, Executive Director, Advanced Printing Technology Centre (APTEC)

Birgit Plautz, Manager of Technical Services, GMG Americas and Head of Global Support, GMG GmbH & Co. KG

Don Schroeder, Director of Solutions Development and Director of the National Technology Center, FUJIFILM North America Corporation

Hart Swisher, Chief Research and Innovation Director, Hammer Packaging Corporation

Wandee Poolpol, End Use Manager for Graphic Arts, Eckart America Corporation

The TAGA Board performs an essential role in helping the organization meet its overarching objective of providing a worldwide forum for sharing and disseminating theoretical, functional, and practical information on current and emerging technologies for graphic arts print production and related processes. 

Full biographies can be found here.