Image: The ApPEARS group in Leeds
Getting their hands “inky” in Bristol
In the Harbor city of Bristol, surrounded by 19th-century warehouses, the scene was set for the 4th training event of the project. At the University of the West of England, specifically the Centre for Print Research, they were ready to host 15 ApPEARS Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) with a week of interesting and various content.
During the training the ESRs did a lot of hands-on exercises, starting with the development of a simple model for 3D printing with the computer-aided design (CAD) tool called Rhino. They also got an insight in different printing techniques by getting their hands dirty, or at least “inky” when given the opportunity to test lithography, relief, and screen printing. ApPEARS PhD fellow Fereshteh Abedini who attended the training and had never tried any hand-made printing techniques before. – Controlling print parameters in hand-made printing techniques is very challenging, but I found it an interesting topic to explore in more details, she says about her newly acquired skills.
PhD fellow Tanzima Habib was also very pleased, saying it was very educational and helpful to practically learn about the different printing techniques and methodologies. – It definitely increased my understanding about how different printers work, how materials are used, and the printing processes, she says. Meeting people who are working with different printing methodologies specially focusing on reproducing good piece of art was a great experience to her as this was new knowledge and she learned a lot from them. – I would like to increase this network that deals directly with applications and production, she says.
Fereshteh Abedini felt the training was very well-organized. After three days in Bristol, the journey went on to Birmingham where the PhD fellows visited the national exhibition “Sign and Digital”, a trade show for the visual communications sector a place for inspiration and networking.
The last city to visit was Leeds, where the ApPEARS beneficiary the University of Leeds is located. – “In Leeds, we received a good demonstration of the devices they have, specially Xrite TAC7 material scanner”, Tanzima Habib says. They also got to present their projects through a poster session for other fellows at the University, practicing communication of their projects as well as discussing with peers.
The networking possibilities these training events provide, are probably the most appreciated part according to the ESRs. Discussing with people gives you new perspectives and opens up for possible collaborations in the future.