The second edition of the B R Chowdhri Memorial Print Competition for students of printing and packaging at the Central University of Haryana (CUH) took place on 17 October 2024. The event, a testament to the legacy of B R Chowdhri, inspires and shapes the future of young minds in the field of print and packaging technology.
B R Chowdhri, a post-press teacher at the Northern Regional Institute of Printing Technology (NRIPT), spent years nurturing the next generation of print professionals before serving as press manager at Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. The Offset Printers’ Association (OPA), in a tribute to his contributions to print education, instituted this annual competition.
This year, the competition attracted 46 registrants, but only 28 students took up the challenge of the preliminary written MCQ test. From this talented group, five students—Aaditya Kesarwani, Shivam Saini, Karan Singh, Akash, and Kodle Narender—earned their place in the final round.
The final, held in the CUH seminar hall, saw the contestants face a five-member jury — S K Joshi, former business manager ICAR, New Delhi; K B Nagpal, former principal technical officer, CSIR-NISCPER, New Delhi; Sumesh Sharma, former deputy general manager, The Times of India Delhi; Sanjay Kathuria, director of Print Pack, Sonipat; and Vinay Baveja, MD of Viba Press, New Delhi. The competition’s evaluators included Bijender Kaushik, assistant professor at GJUS&T, Hisar, and Annu, the National Champion of Print Olympiad 2024.
Each student was given a topic on which they had five minutes to prepare. Their presentations were judged not only on content quality and reliability but also on presentation style, confidence, and their ability to respond to questions.
After an intense round of presentations and careful deliberation, Shivam Saini, a final-year student, stood out the clear winner. His articulate presentation, confidence, and depth of knowledge earned him the B R Chowdhri Gold Medal and a cash prize of Rs 25,000.
