Dr M Nandakumar wins National Level Best Teacher Award

Printing tech principal and head of department recognized

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IPP Desk
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Dr M Nandakumar wins National Level Best Teacher Award
Dr M Nandakuma receiving the National Level Visvesvaraya Best Teacher Award by the All India Council for Technical Education in an online ceremony

Dr M Nandakumar, principal and head of the Department of Printing Technology at Sivakasi’s Arasan Ganesan Polytechnic College, has been awarded the National Level Visvesvaraya Best Teacher Award by the All India Council for Technical Education which is based in New Delhi. Honorable Education Minister, Govt. of India, The central government education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank took part in the online award ceremony event honoring the best teachers of the technical institutes in the country on 15 September 2020.

The criteria for the selection of the award include the use of innovative teaching and learning practices, academic outcomes, publication in research journals, funds received from the government for institute development, contributions to community development and student development and welfare activities.

This is the first-ever award instituted by the AICTE for honoring engineering and technology teachers at the national level. Dr M Nandakumar is the only teacher of printing technology selected for the national level award. Dr M Nandakumar is one of twelve teachers selected for the award across the country and also among the three winners from Tamilnadu.

Dr M Nandakumar is only the eighth PhD in printing in the country and the only one working currently working as a teacher in a polytechnic or college. His research papers have been published in five international journals and presented at seven international and national conferences. With more than 25 years with specialization in prepress, digital and offset printing, he is the author of Digital and Non-impact Printing, Designing Software, Print Production, and Desk Top Publishing.

He is the convener for the revision of diploma in printing syllabus for Tamilnadu and also the coordinator for the National Level Common Syllabus Committee for Printing Technology, All India Federation of Master Printers, New Delhi. And also the facilitator for the state project coordination unit, Canada India Institutional Cooperation Project (CIICP), Directorate of Technical Education (DOTE), Chennai.

Nandakumar was the recipient of Arutchelvar Dr N Mahalingam Best Polytechnic Teacher Award given by the Indian Society for Technical Education, New Delhi in 2013; the Outstanding Academician Award (Saveetha Excellence Award) by Saveetha Engineering College, Chennai; and, the UP Government National Award for Outstanding work done in specified areas of Engineering and Technology – Interaction with Industry by the Indian Society for Technical Education, New Delhi in 2019.

2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India

Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.

The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry. While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.

The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.

Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.

Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.

Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.

– Naresh Khanna

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