PLGA Global, the Packaging & Label Gravure Association, has given its 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award to Peter Daetwyler of Max Daetwyler Corporation. Daetwyler was honored at PLGA Global’s recent Operational Conference, held in March in Miami, FL, USA.

After completing his mechanical engineering apprenticeship in Switzerland, Daetwyler joined the Max Daetwyler Corporation (MDC), which was formed by his father, building automatic etching machines, plating equipment, and other equipment used for cylinder preparation. He came to the US in 1975, where MDC established a base for sales and service of prepress equipment and doctor blades. Daetwyler is a member of the board of trustees for the Gravure Education Foundation and was inducted into the Gravure Cylinder Society in 1999. He is an active member of PLGA, GAA, PICA, GATF, the Flexographic Technical Association, and the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce.

PLGA’s Global Educational Foundation has presented its 2008-2009 Gravure scholarship to John Jay Jacobs, a graduate student at Clemson University. Jacobs was interested in graphics and design from an early age and pursued art and design education while in high school, winning drafting and design awards. He attended Clemson University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Communications in 1991. He was hired by Hallmark Nameplate in 1992 and held multiple positions during his employment there, including quality assurance manager, art department manager and graphic engineer. In 2008, he left to return to graduate school at Clemson.

In his scholarship application, Jacobs wrote, “From intaglio printing in the 15th Century to the circuitry that will run the world of the 21st Century, gravure has had over half a millennium of evolution. It has improved our lives in ways most people are completely unaware of. We walk on it. We look at it. We read it. We wear it. The results of gravure are everywhere. With continued innovation and foresight, the gravure process will continue to evolve, helping us to reach further and do more for years to come.”