West Australian Newspapers digital imaging manager Derek Williamson is the winner of this year’s $15,000 GAMAA Industry Overseas Internship Grant.
Williamson won the grant in a unanimous decision based on the strength of his proposed research and its potential benefit to the industry.
He will use the grant to travel to Europe and research trends in the continuous feed inkjet printing market, which he describes as ‘a new technology that plays a crucial role for long-term sustainability of print and one that has the potential for substantial growth over coming years’.
“This technology is relatively new and is only scratching the surface of work produced in traditional print companies,” he says.
“I intend on identifying companies that are utilising new and innovative methods of reaching their target audience and discovering how they overcame any challenges.
“Learning from industry experts will strengthen my current abilities to identify the virtually limitless possibilities continuous feed presents for business and consumers alike.”
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He will report to GAMAA periodically and at the end write a research paper documenting his experience and how his findings can be applied to the Australian market.
Williamson says he is feeling ‘exhilarated and excited’ about winning the grant and hopes the printing industry will benefit from his research.
“Being selected and having the opportunity to analyse and identify new ideas and technologies for the web printing industry, to keep Australia consistent with current and emerging global industry trends, is an opportunity I relish,” he says.
“The GAMAA Overseas Internship Grant will provide networks and direct contacts globally, to ensure Australia reaps the benefits currently enjoyed by technology specialists in overseas markets.”
GAMAA president Adrian Fleming says the printing industry needs to continue to look at print in new ways and to find sustainable solutions, and that Williamson’s research will help that process.
“Derek’s experience and passion for print, combined with his well thought-out, and outcomes-based proposal, resulted in a unanimous decision to award him the 2014 grant,” he says.
The GAMAA Industry Overseas Internship Grant allows sends one industry figure each year to intern with companies of their choosing anywhere in the world in marketing, new media, print, graphic design and other nominated disciplines related to the print media field.
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