Accepting the offer, Chopra said it is a matter of honour for the entire print industry, as, perhaps, it is for the first time in the history of Indian printing that such a felicitation is given to a printer.

“I am thankful to Prof BK Kuthiala, vice-chancellor of the university and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh for bestowing such an honour to a printer like me,” he said.

Printing, he said, is a fast growing profession; It's not just ink on paper anymore. “In this digital age, printing is also developing as a versatile media. We can print, taste, touch, odour, etc. These days food, buildings even human organs also are being printed. We need lots of qualified printing engineers to cope with the latest developments, especially in 3D printing and printed electronics. It is great that MCU is preparing qualified printing engineers capable of handling the printing of tomorrow. It will be my good fortune to work with MCU to train the printers of tomorrow,” he added.

Chopra, a known name in printing the world over, is a qualified printer and a gold medallist in printing technology. He has several accolades to his credit, including the awards from the President of India and Global Print Leadership Award at Chicago by NPES.

One of his works, the unique 13-page calendar offering a complete history of printing going back to over 100,000 years, has found a pride place in the Printing History Museum in Beijing, China. He was also felicitated at Birmingham in the UK by the BUMPSA for his achievements in the industry.

The Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism & Communication (MCU) has five campuses, with the main campus in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh. The other campuses are at Noida, Khandwa, Gwalior and Amarkhantak. It has two study centres in Nepal. Another campus at Rewa is coming up soon.