PLGA Global Awards Six Scholarships By Randy Butler

Megan Boyle is a sophomore at Clemson University. She is majoring in Graphic Communications. In high school she took first in both the State and Nationals at the Skills USA contest. Presently, Megan spends most of her days inside Godfrey Hall designing for her classes using the latest in digital software and then printing her designs using the five major printing processes. After graduating, Megan plans to be a powerful force within the industry.

Angela Melzer is a graphic design student at Arizona State University. She is a member of a research team there called Invation Space. The research project investigates current problems and solutions for over-the-counter drug packaging and labeling. Included in the teams findings were how the materials, ink, printing, typesize and use of typeface, effect packaging. Angela was able to present her work to healthcare professionals at the 2006 Healthcare Communications Forum in Boston.

Berk Yilancioglu is a second year graphic media student at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He is a native of Turkey where his family owns a printing company. They produce labels, flexible packaging and offset products. Berk has worked at his family’s company every summer since he was twelve and has worked in various areas from the marketing departments to the pressroom. He is now a lab assistant at the gravure research library.

Brennan Angel is a student at the California Polytechnic Institute. With a background in standard sheet-fed offset lithography, he began searching for a more challenging and complex field. Brennan found what he was looking for in packaging. Attending the Pack Expo in Chicago this past Octoberincreased his interest in packaging all the more. Brennan hopes to increase his knowledge of packaging as it relates to the gravure process.

Laura Kraft is a senior at Western Michigan University. She is studying Imaging and Multimedia with hopes to work in the printing industry. She also works as a prepress technician setting jobs, sending films and working with customers. Laura has been a member of WMU’s Graphic Arts Society for two years and is currently the group’s Vice President. They print t-shirts and small offset jobs for local groups, charities and other WMU organizations.

Julie White of Eudora, Kansas,is in her second year at Pittsburgh State University. She is majoring in Commercial Graphics and Communications. The past two summers Julie has spent working in Kansas City for Spangler Graphics. The company is in charge of preparing thousands of student planners that are shipped across the United States. After graduating she plans to start her own graphic design company.