Fall 09 RIT

As summer came to an end and the newspaper began to advertise notebooks, pencils and backpack supplies, I knew school was just around the corner. Since my junior year in high school, I knew without a doubt, that I wanted to pursue my college career with Rochester Institute of Technology. The reputation within the industry as well as the opportunity to receive a high end education, led me to the school and pursuing a major in New Media Publishing. Once I was all packed up and ready to go, my family and I left Minnesota to begin the long drive to Rochester, New York. After completing a summer internship at GLS and the summer before Advanced Web, I looked back at all that I had learned and felt extremely prepared to start school.

This all seemed like it happened yesterday. From late August to now late November, I can attest that the old saying holds true, "Time flies when you are having fun". As school began, I was extremely motivated to get involved within RIT's Print Media department.

I started working in the Digital Publishing Center. At RIT, the DPC is student operated and is a solution for other students in any major to print off projects, photo prints, books, etc. My duties working this fall were to open the center and prepare it for the full day ahead. Starting the presses, wide format plotter, cutters, etc. as well as completing calibration tests for each device were some of my morning duties. When the center opens up and customers begin to fill in, as a lab assistant, I work wit the CSR's and complete each incoming job. This includes releasing it from RIP, getting the correct paper, running it on the printer, finishing and handing it to the customer.

In the school of Print Media, RIT has three student related groups. TAGA, PUB, and GET. All serve as an opportunity for students to get involved and work first hand with industry leading trends. I decided to join TAGA and PUB because they seemed to fit me best with what I wanted to get out of them.

Each year, the Technical Association of Graphic Arts (TAGA) invites students from TAGA Chapters around the world to participate in a publication competition a their international technical conference. Each chapter submits an entirely student-written, designed, and produced publication of technical papers which is judged on its informative, professional, and creative merits.

The RIT TAGA Student Chapter combines printing, design, photography and multimedia skills into one cohesive publication. Our chapter produced its last publication as a 148-page journal theme of international accessibility. Features of our journal included keyword translations in four languages, a Smyth sewn binding with lay-flat design, and each journal was individually issued via variable data. I am production manager of this year's publication and I am very excited about the direction the publication is heading. Three other students and myself recently completed a test run on the NexPress. We tested specifically the dimensional coating capabilities and were really happy with the results.

PUB is a project-based organization withing the School of Print Media that is focused on education, networking and experience in the fields related new Media, Print, Publishing Photography, Design, Business and Information Technology. Besides working on yearlong projects, PUB also hosts various speakers, networking events and Brain Exchange seminars. PUB holds various social events throughout the year including quarterly dinners, trips off campus, and our end of the year banquet. I am project lead of the Variable Data Group. Our goal is to work with admissions to incorporate VDP in their postcards to prospective students.

My print related classes this fall have been Digital Foundations and New Media Perspectives. My professors in both classes are greatly involved in the industry and being able to learn from them each day is enjoyable for me. In Digital Foundations, we learned all about file types, bit depth, resolution, color theory, production flow, etc. In the New Media Perspectives class, we had may interesting discussions such as current state of the newspaper industry and where the future might take us.

As I am writing this, I am enjoying my first break home and seeing everyone for Thanksgiving. I fly back tomorrow night and I look forward to starting a new winter quarter. I hope to share with you my future experiences.

Nick Gawreluk