14-C Flexography (Acadamic History)

The Flexo in Education Program, formerly The Flexo in High School Program, was started at South Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, North Carolina by the Flexographic Technical Association in 1993. Since its inception many other high school programs have been started. For example Asheville High School in Asheville, NC, The Applied Technology Center in Rock Hill, SC, Fort Mill High School in Fort Mill, SC, and others. The program has even gone international with the inclusion of Gordon Graydon Memorial Secondary School in Missasauga, Ontario Canada. The program was re-named to become The Flexo in Education Program because post-secondary institutions began to participate in the program. Many technical colleges and universities incorporate flexography into their curriculum. For example The Department of Graphic Communications and the Clemson University Printing and Converting Research Center at Clemson University, Central Piedmont Community College, Chowan University, Appalachian State University, the Graphic Communications Management program at Ryerson University, and others include flexography in their curriculum.Sadly, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, the school district where Flexo in Education got its start, announced in 2008 that the first ever Flexo in High School program at South Mecklenburg High School would be discontinued. The building where their flexography lab was located was demolished Monday, July 7, 2008, to make way for a new 3-story building to house the school's science and technology department. The school district determined that it would be too difficult and expensive to move, store, and re-install press and equipment in the old lab. It was, instead, donated to another school in North Carolina to start a new flexo program.Flexographic printing inksThe nature and demands of the printing process and the application of the printed product determine the fundamental properties required of flexographic inks. Measuring the physical properties of inks and understanding how these are affected by the choice of ingredients is a large part of ink technology. Formulation of inks requires a detailed knowledge of the physical and chemical properties of the raw materials composing the inks, and how these ingredients affect or react with each other as well as with the environment. Flexographic printing inks are primarily formulated to remain compatible with the wide variety of substrates used in the process. Each formulation component individually fulfils a special function and the proportion and composition will vary according to the substrate.