On 22 January 2024, MP Raghav Rao, managing director, Fujifilm Sericol India inaugurated the West Zone session. He addressed the participants and officially declared the competition open. Rao said, “I believe that this talent hunt is just as important as the
inauguration of Shri Ram idol."

TKS Lakshmi Priya, project chief coordinator said, “Print Olympiad is the largest printing talent search globally. The sixth edition is in progress, west zone competitions are being hosted by the PVG’s COET & GKPWIM and MIPT, Pune.

Hosted by PVG’s COET & GKPWIM and MIPT Pune, the Print Olympiad West Zone webinar saw an engaging competition

Two coordinators for the west zone are Madhura Mahajan and PV Shinde. Participating students are from PVG’s COET and GKPWIM; MIPT; New Arts and Commerce College, Ahmednagar; GIPT, Beed; Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University for Journalism and Communication; and RC Technical College Gandhinagar.

Varsha Chaware introduced the guests of honour: Shridhar M Prabhu, director, Dolly Printing & Packaging India, Pune, and Datta Kute, manager of SPPU-Pune and chairman of MED25, Bureau of Indian Standards. Their addresses are anticipated to enrich the event with industry perspectives.

Swati welcomed the esteemed panel of judges, which comprised Sahil Rao, director, Unbox Packaging; Prashant Patil, general manager - technical sales, newspaper and narrow-web, Chemo Graphics International; Arun Gangarde, director I/C, Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Sciences, New Arts Commerce & Science College, Ahmednagar; and Jitendra Songire, director, KS Wani Institute of Printing, Jalgaon.

The participants engaged in a challenging yet stimulating environment, showcasing their knowledge and skills in printing technology. There were two different sets in the first round, one for Diploma, DVoc; BVoc and the other for BTech and BE Printing. The test lasted for 30 minutes, with 50 questions.

The brainchild of Print Olympiad and project chairman, Kamal Chopra declared the top five students from the West Zone. The winners are Apeksha Deshmukh from PVG COET, Pune; Samadhan Baviskar, Mohit Katial, Rutuja Bhale and Vaibhav Lingshetti from MIPT, Pune.

The program concluded with remarks from Anubhava Shiksharthi, advisor, Print Olympiad. His words expressed gratitude to all involved, emphasising the collaborative efforts that made the event a success.