IOP Groups

PPP AGM 2006

Minutes of the 21st Annual General Meeting held at 1.40 on Tuesday 28^th November 2006 in the Glazebrook Room of the Institute of Physics, 76 Portland Place, London.

Present: Dilwyn Jones (chair), Bob Thompson (Hon Secretary), Roy Gray, Phil Green, Alan Hodgson, Peter Herdman, Peter Woolliams, Harry Smith, Mark Kirwan, Eddie Yeadon, Neil Shepherd, Andrew Hanson.

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies were received from Bill Sampson, Nigel Sherman, Joyce Townsend and Tim Claypole.

2. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
The minutes of the 19^th Annual General Meeting were accepted and signed by the Chair.

3. REPORT OF THE GROUP CHAIR
The Chair presented his report which had been circulated in advance:

Over the last year, the Group Committee has devoted much time to considering the future of the Group, and this task is still under way.  In the meantime, we have run a healthy series of meetings, some jointly with other organisations, and have a potentially full programme through to autumn 2007.

The 2006 Group AGM did not reach a quorum, and we agreed with Peter Main, the Institute’s Director of Education and Science, that we should run the group with the previous committee in place, with me taking over the Chair, Bill Sampson as Honorary Treasurer, and the post of Honorary Secretary vacant.  There was a poor response to the letter sent to members in September 2005, with only one potential committee member coming forward.  The reports submitted to last year’s AGM will be included in this year’s records.

I embarked on a series of helpful discussions with officers of other Groups and the Applied Physics and Technology Division (APTD) within the Institute.  The options available were presented at the Committee meeting on April 5th 2006. There was enthusiasm a re-launch with the theme of Graphics, which was felt to be sufficiently broad to cover activities in colour management, printing technology and novel print applications.  It was felt that Physics involvement in Papermaking and Packaging was shrinking in the UK, but they could remain as subsidiary areas covered by the Group.  We identified that for the relaunch to be successful and the Group to have a future, it would be critical to attract Institute members working in the field and keen to be active Committee members.

Working towards the relaunch, the Group has affiliated to the Applied Physics and Technology Division, and will have a presence at their September 2007 conference on “Novel Aspects of Surface Modification” in Southampton, with sessions on Printing and Plasma Coatings.  The committee is close to agreement on new Group Name and Purpose [see item 5].  We will publicise the relaunch in “Interactions”, and carry out some market research using a questionnaire, in order to gauge support for the new group and identify potential people to help run it.

Group membership is unchanged at 92.  The first group Institute members join is now free, so we might expect some growth once this becomes more widely known.

The committee met at the Institute on April 5^th, and again using Internet meeting software on July 27^th.  A second internet meeting on October 4^th was unsuccessful because of absence and technical difficulties besetting two others.  Peter Lee resigned from the committee in January after a total of 12 years service, during which he gave us a useful link with the Institute of Printing.  Professor Joyce Townsend will resign at the AGM, after 2½ years service, and helping to organise the Preservation and Conservation issues conference.  I would like to thank Peter and Joyce on behalf of the Group for their hard work and advice.  I must also thank the whole committee for their support during a difficult period for the Group over the last year.

The 2005 Student Conference was held at the Department of Colour and Polymer Chemistry at the University of Leeds.  I would like to thank them for their facilities, food and local organisation.  There were 6 papers of a high presentation standard, all by students at Leeds, and an audience of 27.  This year’s conference will be held at the Institute, and we hope to have a wider spread of participating institutions.

The group’s Student Bursary of £500 was presented to Simon Bowles of London College of Communication at the conference.  His project is entitled “The Visual Appearance of Image Reproduction on Coloured Substrates:  Quantifying the Effect of Partial and Chromatic Adaptation”.

The Group joined with the Retired Members’ Section of the London and South East Branch of the Institute to hold a full day meeting on “Printing, Packaging, Papermaking and Publishing” on January 12^th at Portland Place.  An audience of 86 heard 6 talks covering topics ranging from new e-paper and flexible display technology to food packaging and the recycled paper industry.  I am grateful to George Freeman and David Pick of REMS for their organisation of the meeting.

Another fruitful collaboration we have is with the Colour Group (UK).  Together, we held a joint afternoon meeting on “The 1931 Standard Eye” on April 5^th at 76 Portland Place.  It was held to commemorate the 75^th Anniversary of the 1931 CIE Standard Observer, the basis of understanding colour perception.  As well as talks describing the history of colorimetry and modern developments, the audience of 68 was treated to a video contribution from Arthur Tarrant, remembering the personalities of Stiles and Wright, who carried out the original experiments.

The 3^rd International Conference on “Preservation and Conservation Issues Related to Digital Printing and Digital Photography” was held on April 24^th to 25^th 2006, again at the Institute.  It was jointly organised by MATAR, the Materials and The Arts Research Group at the London College of Communication.  We are grateful to the organising committee of Bob Thompson, Joyce Townsend, Andrew Manning of LCC and Dawn Stewart of IOP Conferences for assembling and running an excellent conference.  There were 76 attendees, 22 from abroad.  There were 14 papers covering a wide range from the conservation of specific collections to the physics behind fading of prints, and a tutorial from Kodak on print lifetime. The proceedings are being published, and are for sale separately.  The conference and sales have made a surplus of around £4000, which will be shared between the Institute and the Group.  It is planned to hold the 4^th conference in the series in 2009, even if the Group no longer exists.

The Group co-sponsored a Royal Society of Chemistry meeting on “Printing of Functional Materials” at the University of Manchester on June 12^th -14^th.  91 attendees (but only 4 Institute of Physics members) heard 22 talks covering inkjet printing in a range of novel applications, micropatterning, electrospraying, soft lithography and other topics.

By the time of the AGM, we will have held a free afternoon meeting on 21^st November at the London College of Communication, with 7 speakers talking about “Viewing Conditions In The Graphic Arts”.  [This was attended by 27, but 2 speakers had to withdraw.]  Following that is the Student Conference and AGM on November 28^th at the Institute of Physics, where the Student Bursary and Group Prize will be presented.

A joint meeting on “Removal Of Moisture in Industrial Applications” with the Vacuum Group of the Institute is taking shape for a date in December.  Into next year, we are planning a full day meeting on Colour Proofing in the spring.  As mentioned above, the APTD Conference in September will contain sessions relevant to the Group.

We not published a Newsletter this year, but the website has been updated on a regular basis and contains reports of the recent meetings.  The transfer of information to the new Institute website started in March and is still not complete: this has resulted in our active pages being “tucked away” and rather difficult to find, and much slower posting of new content.  We hope that the situation will improve soon.  We publish links to other meetings of possible relevance to the Group on the website, and maintain and use a list of contacts with other organisations to publicise our own events.

The year ahead will be interesting, both for the interesting science we will be talking about, and for the challenge of relaunching a successful Group.  We are always keen to receive comments, suggestions and especially offers of help!  We hope you feel the Group is as valuable as we do.

In addition, the Chair made the following remarks.  He thanked retiring members of the Committee for their years of service. Peter Lee (12 years), Joyce Townsend (2.5 years), Bill Sampson (5 years and Past Chairman) and Nigel Sherman (8 years and Past Hon Sec and Treasurer).

The Institute website had now been updated.

The financial status of the Group showed £2300 credit with outstanding costs of around £2300.

A new procedure for funding Groups comes into effect at the end of the year and there will no longer be any carry-over. Groups have to bid for funds against their proposed activities. For the new financial year the Group had been allotted £3200 compared with £2000 last year.

The Report was accepted by the meeting.

4. ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE

Chair:  Dilwyn Jones (Consultant).

Proposed Neil Shepherd, seconded, Bob Thompson. Carried.

Hon Secretary and Hon Treasurer: Bob Thompson.

Proposed Dilwyn Jones. Seconded Eddie Yeadon.  Carried.

Ordinary Members:

Roy Gray (Retired)  Proposed Nigel Sherman, Dilwyn Jones.

Peter Herdman (Arjo Wiggins)  Proposed Nigel Sherman, Dilwyn Jones.

Alan Hodgson (Consultant)  Proposed Nigel Sherman, Dilwyn Jones.

Peter Woolliams (NPL)  Proposed Andrew Hanson, Dilwyn Jones.

All carried.

Ratification of Co-opted Ordinary Committee Members:

Tim Claypole (Welsh Centre for Printing and Coating)

Andrew Hanson (NPL)

Neil Shepherd (Toppan Printing)

Proposed Roy Gray. Seconded Phil Green.  Carried.

Phil Green continues as an Ordinary Committee Member.         

5. UPDATE ON NEW GROUP NAME AND PURPOSE

Dilwyn Jones presented the proposal for the Group to relaunch under a new name.

Printing and Graphics Science Group (PGS)

PURPOSE:

The Group will concern itself with exciting new developments in Graphic Arts technology and Printing applications.  The Digital Revolution initiated a whole range of new ways of reproducing and displaying images and information: physics is involved in forming and measuring the image and how it is perceived.  Inkjet and other printing and deposition processes are being used in many novel applications such as visual displays, flexible electronics, smart packaging, lighting and photovoltaics based on organic and polymer electro-optic materials.  Physicists are actively involved in developing the processes, designing and characterising the products, and developing the new materials.

The UK has a world-leading position in these technologies, and the new Group will promote the application of physics in these fields.  We will bring together scientists working in industry, academy and elsewhere, and develop links with other active professional societies, such as the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, Institute of Paper, Printing and Publishing, Royal Society of Chemistry, Royal Photographic Society and the Colour Group.  Research in our areas is multi-disciplinary, often carried out in departments not called “physics”, by scientists whose original discipline is often not physics.  Our activities will include this wider community, wherever physics is being developed and brought to bear.

The Group is affiliated to the Applied Physics and Technology Division of the Institute of Physics.  This will strengthen our links with IOP Groups in related subject areas, such as Polymer Physics, Materials and Characterisation, Engineering Physics, Tribology, Ion and Plasma Surface Interactions.  We will participate in the Division Conference, as well as maximising the opportunities for joint meetings with other Groups.  The new Group will supersede the Printing, Packaging and Papermaking Group, which was formed in 1985 to promote physics in these subject areas.  We will maintain an interest in the manufacture and properties of paper as a key substrate for printing, and in the physics of packaging.

Our objectives will be:

• To promote the application of physics in graphics arts technology, printing, packaging and papermaking.
• To promote the development of innovative printing in new markets such as displays, lighting and printed electronics
• To promote a recognition of the importance of physics in those industries, and to promote physics in these industries as a career choice to graduates.
• To act as a forum for communication within the scientific community in these industries.

Our activities will include:

• Technical meetings and visits to companies, laboratories and other venues.
• An annual Student Conference to enable postgraduate researchers to present their work and network.
• Encouraging student participation by awarding an annual bursary, and make travel funds available.
• An annual prize for the best application of physics in the subject areas.
• Organising the 3-yearly IOP Conference on “Preservation and Conservation Issues in Digital Printing and Photography”, following successful events in 2000, 2003 and 2006.
• Participating in the 2-yearly Division Conference “Novel Applications of Surface Modification”.
• A newsletter published annually or more frequently.
• A website covering the Group’s activities and links to relevant outside conferences, exhibitions, centres of research and sources of information.

It was agreed that the new group should be called Printing and Graphics Science (PGS) and that after approval by the Institute the new name and group purpose be used to publicise the group and its activities.

An e-mail from Dr Keith Bridge, Founder Chairman of the 3P’s Group was read out by the Chairman. Dr Bridge congratulated the Group on its performance since it was founded and wished the revised Group well for the future. Dr Eddie Yeadon expressed his congratulations to the Chairman and Committee on navigating the Group to a new future.

6. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

There being no other business, the meeting closed at 2.08pm.

APPENDIX:  REPORTS SUBMITTED TO 2005 AGM

As the 2005 AGM was abandoned after a quorum was not reached, the reports of the Chair and Honorary Secretary and Treasurer are included here for the record.

Annual Report of Group Chair, 2004-2005.

This report concerns the year since the last AGM of the Printing, Packaging and Papermaking Group, held on 2nd February 2004 at 76, Portland Place. At that meeting, Dr Bill Sampson, Group Chair and author of this report, announced his intention to resign the chair at the next available opportunity and will do so at the AGM to be held in Leeds on 19^th October 2005.

On the same date as the last AGM, the Group held a joint half-day meeting with The Colour Group on the theme of Inkjet Printing. The event was well attended and the delegates heard four excellent talks on the science of droplet formation in inkjet printing and the application of inkjet technologies in industry and in the reproduction of fine-art by galleries.

The group has struggled to meet all the criteria laid out in the new group constitution for the appropriate composition of the committee and was asked by GCC to discuss the future of the group in the light of these problems. At a sparsely attended committee meeting in March, it was decided that Chair should initiate an electronic discussion among the members of the committee with a view to developing a consensus as to how to proceed. The text of this is included at the end of this report. The extent of discussion in response to this was somewhat limited and the issues raised remain unresolved.

The group continues to hold meetings of a good standard and will hold its 3^rd Student Conference in Leeds on 19^th October 2005. Each year the committee offers a student bursary, this year we received five applications for this and will announce the award at the Student Conference.  The group has recently announced a joint meeting with the Retired Members’ Section of the Institute to be held on 12^th January 2006 with a theme of Printing, Paper, Packaging and Publishing.

Dr W.W. Sampson

19/September/2005

Email to PPP’s Committee to initiate electronic discussion of options for future of the group:

During the 3P's committee meeting held on 16th March at Portland Place, we agreed that I would email all the committee to summarise our discussions and seek some opinions. You will recall that I have recently stated my intention to step down from chairing the committee since I feel unable to put in the required time due to the difficulties we are experiencing in the Paper Science Group at Manchester. At the same time, the Group Coordination Committee asked us to discuss the future of the group, given the difficulties that we had in forming a committee according to the rules given in the constitutions of all groups.

The fact that only 5 of us were present at Wednesday's meeting rather reinforces the need for a discussion of the future of the group. Despite our restricted numbers, we had a worthwhile and good quality discussion about what we felt we should be providing for group members and how we operate. Ultimately, we agreed that if we are to get group members to attend our meetings and visits, then we should consider relaunching the group under the guidance of the Institute. Now, this is a significant step and we felt that it requires the agreement and commitment of the committee membership

You should note also that this does not in any way resolve the issue of who should act as Group Chair. It has been suggested that Dilwyn might take on this role, and he has suggested that if he were to accept this, then the tasks that he currently undertakes could be shared among the membership of the committee; these being the role of Secretary (dealing with correspondence, reports, etc.), Treasurer, meetings secretary (booking rooms, taking minutes), and web editor. Having said that, Dilwyn is understandably reluctant to accept the chair at what could be a time of significant change for both the Group and him personally.  All Officers (Chair, Secretary, Treasurer) need to be Members or Fellows of the Institute (i.e. not Associates and Affiliates).

I would like the opinions of all the committee about the possibility of a relaunch of the group and their level of commitment to this. I understand that there are many demands upon everyone's time, and no doubt this is the reason that the group is in its current situation. Depending on the outcomes of this discussion, we may seek the opinions of our 96 members; before considering this though, we thought that the committee should first determine whether or not they are able to contribute to a relaunched group in a way that would maximise its chances for success. I consider that a successful group holds meetings attended by members not on the committee.

"Relaunch" could involve a change of name, a merger with another IOP group, a publicity campaign, possibly with a special section in Physics World, stronger links with other professional bodies such as IOM3.  These ideas were mentioned at the meeting: other thoughts are welcome.

So, please share your comments with all the committee by using the "reply to all" or "group reply" buttons on your email programme. I know that many of you will be taking holiday over the coming weeks – I will be off all of next week and much of the following week–so I propose that we close this discussion on Friday 15th April. I look forward to reading your opinions and to a stimulating exchange of thoughts.

Hon Secretary and Treasurer’s Report 2004-5

Group membership has increased slightly to 92 from 91 at the last AGM.

In 2005, the Group held a joint meeting with the Colour Group (UK) on Inkjet Printing on February 2^nd. This was highly successful with over 80 attending.  Andrew Hanson will follow up this success with a meeting on April 5^th 2006 on “The Standard Eye”.

A Newsletter was mailed to all group members in June. The website has been updated periodically with details of events. It is planned to announce the Annual Student Bursary winner at the Student Conference. There were no submissions for the Group Prize, so it will not be awarded this year.

The Group Committee met on March 16^th and September 22^nd. There were no changes to the Committee through the year.  As mentioned in the Chairman’s report, the Group is struggling to find committee officers and members with sufficient time to keep it running. This is a source of concern and may result in the group having to close down.

The group’s current balance on August 31^st was £2228, including an expenditure item for £35 under investigation.  The end of year balance is expected to be small, around zero.  Financial summaries for 2005 and 2006 are attached.  In 2006, the annual budget to all groups will be increased, but we may have to cancel some expenditure or charge for the student meeting in order not to overspend.

Dilwyn Jones,                          

Hon. Secretary and Treasurer, PPP Group.

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