Memjet Hires John Ortiz to Lead Development of Ink, Materials

John Ortiz joined Memjet as VP of inks and materials, the company announced.

In this role, Ortiz will guide the strategy, development, and manufacturing of inks used in the company’s VersaPass, DuraLink, and DuraFlex technologies.

Ortiz will also lead the development of inks and primers used in Memjet’s future technologies.

Before joining Memjet, Ortiz served in leadership roles at HP for over 20 years. As director of product stewardship, he led the global product stewardship function for HP’s personal systems, printing, and 3D Printing businesses. His previous leadership roles at HP focused on sustainability, environmental operations, research and development, ink development, and manufacturing.

Ortiz also served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy.

“Ink formulation is critical to the growth of digital printing and its expansion into new markets,” said Len Lauer, CEO at Memjet. “John’s leadership, combined with his extensive background and industry knowledge, ensures Memjet’s advancements in the area of inks will service the needs of this growing market today and well into the future.”

In Memjet’s printing technologies, ink is heated to a temperature of 310°C to create ink bubbles that then eject ink droplets through thousands of very precise nozzles with a diameter smaller than the size of a human hair. As the ink bursts through the nozzle, it produces a precise dot placement of ink at 1600 x 1600 dpi on media that is moving at speeds of up to 200 m/minute (160 in/second).

“The precision of the inkjet printing process means the printhead is highly intolerant to any contaminants,” said Ortiz. “Developing inks that will support this printing process requires a team with a special skill set and a focus on research and development. With over 300 years of collective experience, Memjet’s R&D team has the proficiency to formulate inks for today’s printing demands and anticipate what will be needed in future ink formulations.”

Under the leadership of Ortiz, Memjet’s Inks and Materials team will dedicate its efforts to ensuring the quality of Memjet inks while developing new ink and primer formulations that bring value to the end-user.

“Since the introduction of digital inkjet printing, the cost of ink has been a point of discussion in the marketplace,” said Ortiz. “What these discussions often leave out is the time, experience, and effort spent perfecting ink formulations that assure the entire inkjet system works the way it was intended to. More importantly, these discussions miss the value that digital printing brings to the printing industry and society as a whole.”

Memjet is the only vendor to offer an aqueous-only line of inks. These aqueous inks lock in the quality of the printhead and are safer for the environment, users, and the consumer. Moreover, pairing these aqueous inks with new primers currently in development expands the range of substrates users can print on, opening up new print markets for water-based inks.

Memjet is also making the transition to pigment-based inks that are light- and water fast and bring a new level of durability that can expand further print markets.