David Savastano, Editor11.21.16
The National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers (NAPIM) honored two industry leaders with prestigious awards during the 2016 NPIRI Technical Conference. Below are brief features on each of the award recipients:
• Dr. Kuman Menon, technical manager, screen inks and industrial at Sun Chemical - Technical Acheivement Award
• Dr. JoAnn Arceneaux, manager radcure technical service and business development at Allnex - Technical Associate Member Service Award
After completing his graduate studies in the UK, Dr. Kumar Menon worked as a postdoctoral fellow for a few years, but he started to get restless.
“I started to get bored with academic research and decided to look for an opening in the manufacturing industry where I could combine and apply my knowledge of material science, which I studied as an undergrad, with photochemistry, which I studied in graduate school,” added Dr. Menon, who is director technical specialty R&D, Sun Chemical. “I received an impressive response from two ink companies and accepted an offer from Coates based in the UK. The rest is history.”
Dr. Menon made the right call in leaving academia and joining the ink industry, as he was honored with the prestigious 2016 Technical Achievement Award from NAPIM.
Dr. Menon joined Coates in 1985 as a technologist in the screen ink development lab. He was given the task of working with UV products, and helped developed a UV ink system for printing on plastic containers. He moved to the US in 1990.
“I joined Coates Screen in the USA in the summer of 1990 as a senior technologist,” Dr. Menon recalled. “The 1990s was a very good decade for me because I was able to work on a few challenging projects. We developed NVP-free POP screen inks and UV inks for decorating optical discs. Perhaps the biggest highlight of that decade was watching the sales of our optical disc ink market grow from zero to multimillion dollars. During that time, I also progressed to be the development manager for Coates Screen.”
In 1999, Sun Chemical acquired Coates, and Dr. Menon soon joined the Sun Chemical Technology Group.
“Sun Chemical purchased Coates in 1999 and I remained part of Coates Screen research and development team until I joined the new Sun Chemical Technology Group as a technical manager, where I continue to work on the development of screen products. Some major highlights in the 2000s include the development of our patented UV IMD ink technology. Our share of this high-tech market continues to grow.”
“The most recent contribution has been the development of UV screen inks for plastic cards, which is currently gathering great momentum in sales,” Dr. Menon added. “There are a couple of ‘Holy Grail” projects pending right now, so the best may be yet to come!”
Dr. Menon said he has had many influences throughout his career, beginning with S. Peter Pappas, author of “Radiation Curing – Science and Technology.”
“The work of Peter Pappas has helped me to get great insight into the science and technology of radiation curing,” he said. “There are many people from Coates/Sun Chemical, past and present, who have supported me over the years and given me the opportunity to work here in the United States with the freedom to put my knowledge into action. I couldn’t have done it without them. And I should also thank some of our major customers who provided us with some unique challenges and the opportunity to work with them.”
Outside of work, Dr. Menon enjoys travel and sports.
“I love to travel and visit places with rich history,” he noted. “I also enjoy sports. It was fun playing cricket in my younger days and like it just as much now as a spectator. I also enjoy watching soccer and football.”
Dr. Menon said that he was surprised that he was honored with the Technical Achievement Award.
“I am deeply humbled but elated with this honor,” said Dr. Menon. “It is a wonderful surprise!”
Dr. Menon’s colleagues said it is no surprise to them that he was selected for this honor, and are delighted that he received the Technical Achievement Award.
“It has been an honor to work with Kumar,” said Curt Baskin, product manager for Screen and Industrial Inks, Sun Chemical. “He is a brilliant formulator for screen, offset and even products used for other print media. I started working with Kumar many years ago when I was in sales. As a product/marketing manager for Sun Chemical for the last 17 years, his insight and knowledge has been amazing when it comes to developing products for certain market segments or even specific products for key customers. There is not any individual involved in the screen industry in his league.
“Our customers and key industry vendors who have experienced working with Kumar not only totally respect him and his abilities, but they love working with him and our team,” Baskin added. “I have probably launched 20 products that Kumar formulated and designed and they have all been successful in the screen market.
“Kumar deserves the Technical Achievement Award from the results of his work,” Baskin noted. “When I approach him about a certain application, he is already thinking about a formulation in his mind that will work before he gets to his lab bench. Probably his greatest attribute is explaining technology to marketing guys like myself, sales people and our customers in a way that we can all understand. Besides his mentioned abilities, he is a great friend who makes working with him a successful and enjoyable experience.”
“I just visited two customers yesterday and both commented that they did not know what they would have done without Kumar,” said Chris Parrilli, VP Publication, Screen & Industrial Inks, North American Inks, Sun Chemical. “’What a resource,’ they said. ‘He has helped us significantly.’”
“This is a much-deserved award in recognition of Kumar’s many years of dedicated efforts to ensure the products for our customers remain at the leading edge of UV energy cure technology,” Stewart Kessel, European R&D director, Screen & Industrial, St Mary Cray, UK, Sun Chemical, added. “Having worked with Kumar over many years, I can attest to his breadth of knowledge and ability to develop new innovative technology and products that meet ever more challenging demands.”
“Kumar is an intelligent scientist with the ability to create formulated screen applied products for industrial and graphic arts,” noted David Biro, director, Paste Ink, Screen & Industrial, North American Inks, Sun Chemical. “His talent is only surpassed by his kind nature and love for his family.”
– David Savastano
For many people, three decades in one industry can become a chore. On the other hand, Dr. JoAnn Arceneaux, this year’s NAPIM Technical Associate Member (TAM) Service Award recipient, continues to enjoy her work in the radcure field.
“After 30 years, I continue to have challenges, and I am still having fun,” said Dr. Arceneaux, who is manager radcure technical service and business development for Allnex.
Dr. Arceneaux has been in the radcure field since 1986, when she completed graduate school and was hired by the Celanese Corporation as a research chemist to work in their UV/EB labs.
“In 2001, I became technical manager of the Graphics TS&D Group of Surface Specialties UCB, the new name for the company,” said Dr. Arceneaux. “It was with this change of job responsibilities that I became involved with the graphics industry and NPIRI.”
Dr. Arceneaux has accumulated many highlights in her career, including the commercialization and sales of a product that she developed, receiving her first patent and working in new business development, and seeing a brand new market achieve commercial status. Other highlights are more personal.
“I learned that I liked customer interaction and travel as much as lab work,” Dr. Arceneaux said. “I also enjoy solving problems – there is great satisfaction whenever a solution is found. Showing girls that science is interesting and fun, and that they can do science, too, is also a highlight for me, as is receiving the TAM Award.”
When asked who are some of her most important influences, Dr. Arceneaux begins with her parents.
“My parents always expected me to go to college even though they did not,” Dr. Arceneaux said. “My high school chemistry teacher piqued my interest in the sciences. My first manager encouraged me to go to graduate school, and various managers always allowed me the freedom to innovate.”
Dr. Arceneaux noted that the UV/EB industry has changed over the years, becoming commercially successful. That has changed the nature of the business.
“I think the biggest change has been moving from a technology-driven industry to a market-driven industry,” Dr. Arceneaux observed. “In the early years of UV/EB, it was relatively easy to develop new products, and customers were eager to evaluate them. Today, market needs and potentials and beta customers are fully vetted before product development is started. The adoption of innovation management systems was also a big change.”
The emergence of UV/EB inks in new areas such as litho, flexo and inkjet has been a major change for the industry.
“When I first joined this industry, UV/EB curable screen inks were the majority of the graphics market,” Dr. Arceneaux added. “Binders for UV/EB litho inks had just been developed by UCB. There were no UV/EB curable flexo inks, and inkjet inks were not even on the radar screen. Today, we have all of these UV/EB curable inks and more. Also, food packaging has become much more prevalent in the UV/EB area, driving product development to fit this market. Needs that haven’t changed are better adhesion to substrates and faster cure.”
Dr. Arceneaux is active in trade associations, notably NPIRI and RadTech, and she believes that trade organizations can play an important role by serving as a forum to advance issues common to their general membership.
“They can provide needed funding and expertise that many individual companies would not have,” Dr. Arceneaux said. “They also serve as educators of the industry, and as a public voice. As such, they provide opportunities for members to gain experience in areas outside of their job responsibilities, allowing both personal and professional growth.”
Outside of work, Dr. Arceneaux and her family enjoy the outdoors.
“I enjoy boating and hiking with my family,” Arceneaux said. “My family and I also travel as much as we can, usually to National Parks or the beach for boating and hiking.”
Dr. Arceneaux said that she is so pleased to receive the TAM award. “It is an honor to join the ranks of those who have received the award before me, and I am grateful to have colleagues who nominated me for the award,” Dr. Arceneaux concluded.
– David Savastano
• Dr. Kuman Menon, technical manager, screen inks and industrial at Sun Chemical - Technical Acheivement Award
• Dr. JoAnn Arceneaux, manager radcure technical service and business development at Allnex - Technical Associate Member Service Award
After completing his graduate studies in the UK, Dr. Kumar Menon worked as a postdoctoral fellow for a few years, but he started to get restless.
“I started to get bored with academic research and decided to look for an opening in the manufacturing industry where I could combine and apply my knowledge of material science, which I studied as an undergrad, with photochemistry, which I studied in graduate school,” added Dr. Menon, who is director technical specialty R&D, Sun Chemical. “I received an impressive response from two ink companies and accepted an offer from Coates based in the UK. The rest is history.”
Dr. Menon made the right call in leaving academia and joining the ink industry, as he was honored with the prestigious 2016 Technical Achievement Award from NAPIM.
Dr. Menon joined Coates in 1985 as a technologist in the screen ink development lab. He was given the task of working with UV products, and helped developed a UV ink system for printing on plastic containers. He moved to the US in 1990.
“I joined Coates Screen in the USA in the summer of 1990 as a senior technologist,” Dr. Menon recalled. “The 1990s was a very good decade for me because I was able to work on a few challenging projects. We developed NVP-free POP screen inks and UV inks for decorating optical discs. Perhaps the biggest highlight of that decade was watching the sales of our optical disc ink market grow from zero to multimillion dollars. During that time, I also progressed to be the development manager for Coates Screen.”
In 1999, Sun Chemical acquired Coates, and Dr. Menon soon joined the Sun Chemical Technology Group.
“Sun Chemical purchased Coates in 1999 and I remained part of Coates Screen research and development team until I joined the new Sun Chemical Technology Group as a technical manager, where I continue to work on the development of screen products. Some major highlights in the 2000s include the development of our patented UV IMD ink technology. Our share of this high-tech market continues to grow.”
“The most recent contribution has been the development of UV screen inks for plastic cards, which is currently gathering great momentum in sales,” Dr. Menon added. “There are a couple of ‘Holy Grail” projects pending right now, so the best may be yet to come!”
Dr. Menon said he has had many influences throughout his career, beginning with S. Peter Pappas, author of “Radiation Curing – Science and Technology.”
“The work of Peter Pappas has helped me to get great insight into the science and technology of radiation curing,” he said. “There are many people from Coates/Sun Chemical, past and present, who have supported me over the years and given me the opportunity to work here in the United States with the freedom to put my knowledge into action. I couldn’t have done it without them. And I should also thank some of our major customers who provided us with some unique challenges and the opportunity to work with them.”
Outside of work, Dr. Menon enjoys travel and sports.
“I love to travel and visit places with rich history,” he noted. “I also enjoy sports. It was fun playing cricket in my younger days and like it just as much now as a spectator. I also enjoy watching soccer and football.”
Dr. Menon said that he was surprised that he was honored with the Technical Achievement Award.
“I am deeply humbled but elated with this honor,” said Dr. Menon. “It is a wonderful surprise!”
Dr. Menon’s colleagues said it is no surprise to them that he was selected for this honor, and are delighted that he received the Technical Achievement Award.
“It has been an honor to work with Kumar,” said Curt Baskin, product manager for Screen and Industrial Inks, Sun Chemical. “He is a brilliant formulator for screen, offset and even products used for other print media. I started working with Kumar many years ago when I was in sales. As a product/marketing manager for Sun Chemical for the last 17 years, his insight and knowledge has been amazing when it comes to developing products for certain market segments or even specific products for key customers. There is not any individual involved in the screen industry in his league.
“Our customers and key industry vendors who have experienced working with Kumar not only totally respect him and his abilities, but they love working with him and our team,” Baskin added. “I have probably launched 20 products that Kumar formulated and designed and they have all been successful in the screen market.
“Kumar deserves the Technical Achievement Award from the results of his work,” Baskin noted. “When I approach him about a certain application, he is already thinking about a formulation in his mind that will work before he gets to his lab bench. Probably his greatest attribute is explaining technology to marketing guys like myself, sales people and our customers in a way that we can all understand. Besides his mentioned abilities, he is a great friend who makes working with him a successful and enjoyable experience.”
“I just visited two customers yesterday and both commented that they did not know what they would have done without Kumar,” said Chris Parrilli, VP Publication, Screen & Industrial Inks, North American Inks, Sun Chemical. “’What a resource,’ they said. ‘He has helped us significantly.’”
“This is a much-deserved award in recognition of Kumar’s many years of dedicated efforts to ensure the products for our customers remain at the leading edge of UV energy cure technology,” Stewart Kessel, European R&D director, Screen & Industrial, St Mary Cray, UK, Sun Chemical, added. “Having worked with Kumar over many years, I can attest to his breadth of knowledge and ability to develop new innovative technology and products that meet ever more challenging demands.”
“Kumar is an intelligent scientist with the ability to create formulated screen applied products for industrial and graphic arts,” noted David Biro, director, Paste Ink, Screen & Industrial, North American Inks, Sun Chemical. “His talent is only surpassed by his kind nature and love for his family.”
– David Savastano
For many people, three decades in one industry can become a chore. On the other hand, Dr. JoAnn Arceneaux, this year’s NAPIM Technical Associate Member (TAM) Service Award recipient, continues to enjoy her work in the radcure field.
“After 30 years, I continue to have challenges, and I am still having fun,” said Dr. Arceneaux, who is manager radcure technical service and business development for Allnex.
Dr. Arceneaux has been in the radcure field since 1986, when she completed graduate school and was hired by the Celanese Corporation as a research chemist to work in their UV/EB labs.
“In 2001, I became technical manager of the Graphics TS&D Group of Surface Specialties UCB, the new name for the company,” said Dr. Arceneaux. “It was with this change of job responsibilities that I became involved with the graphics industry and NPIRI.”
Dr. Arceneaux has accumulated many highlights in her career, including the commercialization and sales of a product that she developed, receiving her first patent and working in new business development, and seeing a brand new market achieve commercial status. Other highlights are more personal.
“I learned that I liked customer interaction and travel as much as lab work,” Dr. Arceneaux said. “I also enjoy solving problems – there is great satisfaction whenever a solution is found. Showing girls that science is interesting and fun, and that they can do science, too, is also a highlight for me, as is receiving the TAM Award.”
When asked who are some of her most important influences, Dr. Arceneaux begins with her parents.
“My parents always expected me to go to college even though they did not,” Dr. Arceneaux said. “My high school chemistry teacher piqued my interest in the sciences. My first manager encouraged me to go to graduate school, and various managers always allowed me the freedom to innovate.”
Dr. Arceneaux noted that the UV/EB industry has changed over the years, becoming commercially successful. That has changed the nature of the business.
“I think the biggest change has been moving from a technology-driven industry to a market-driven industry,” Dr. Arceneaux observed. “In the early years of UV/EB, it was relatively easy to develop new products, and customers were eager to evaluate them. Today, market needs and potentials and beta customers are fully vetted before product development is started. The adoption of innovation management systems was also a big change.”
The emergence of UV/EB inks in new areas such as litho, flexo and inkjet has been a major change for the industry.
“When I first joined this industry, UV/EB curable screen inks were the majority of the graphics market,” Dr. Arceneaux added. “Binders for UV/EB litho inks had just been developed by UCB. There were no UV/EB curable flexo inks, and inkjet inks were not even on the radar screen. Today, we have all of these UV/EB curable inks and more. Also, food packaging has become much more prevalent in the UV/EB area, driving product development to fit this market. Needs that haven’t changed are better adhesion to substrates and faster cure.”
Dr. Arceneaux is active in trade associations, notably NPIRI and RadTech, and she believes that trade organizations can play an important role by serving as a forum to advance issues common to their general membership.
“They can provide needed funding and expertise that many individual companies would not have,” Dr. Arceneaux said. “They also serve as educators of the industry, and as a public voice. As such, they provide opportunities for members to gain experience in areas outside of their job responsibilities, allowing both personal and professional growth.”
Outside of work, Dr. Arceneaux and her family enjoy the outdoors.
“I enjoy boating and hiking with my family,” Arceneaux said. “My family and I also travel as much as we can, usually to National Parks or the beach for boating and hiking.”
Dr. Arceneaux said that she is so pleased to receive the TAM award. “It is an honor to join the ranks of those who have received the award before me, and I am grateful to have colleagues who nominated me for the award,” Dr. Arceneaux concluded.
– David Savastano