A former student of the Queensland School of Printing and Graphic Arts has indirectly become a major sponsor of the school.
The school is on the suburban Morningside campus of Brisbanes Southbank Institute of Technology.
Alana Rojahn was a sign-writing student at the School in 1994 and has since moved from the production room floor to a management role in the printing industry. She is Regional Sales Manager for Sydney based Roland DG Australia Pty Ltd, a major printing software, product and machine supplier.
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| Alana Rojahn |
With the companys Education Manager, Russell Cooper, she has been instrumental in providing a Wide Format SP-540V digital printer to the college accompanied by state-of-the-art Flexi 8 software.
Ms Rojahn, whose father has a sign-writing business in Bundaberg where she started out, is an advocate for the training provided by QSPGA.
Apprenticeships are fantastic for both younger and older people, she said. It showed me that I was not just a signwriter, but I was part of advertising and a much wider industry.
Some young people do not realise what career options are available from commencing a signwriting apprenticeship.
Through the working relationship that already existed between Alana and Sean, one of the Schools tutors, Russell Cooper approached Faculty Director Debbie Lanyon to discuss the signwriting industry and what Roland could do to assist QSPGA in moving forward.
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| At the get-together of Southbank Institute of Technology and Roland DG representatives at the Queensland School of Printing and Graphic Art in Brisbane were Kelsey Duncan, Mike Diezman, Julie Pfitzner, Alana Rojahn and Russell Cooper. |
The company already supports three TAFE colleges in New South Wales as well as the Victorian University (which has TAFE courses), Mr Cooper said. We recognise TAFE and Southbank Institute of Technology as the major providers of education for our industry.
If it were not for these providers, we would not have much of an industry and we need to be out there with our technology supporting training providers.
We are also working on an outreach program with QSPGA aimed at school-leavers. It is a poster project which will result in entrants coming in to QSPGAs workshop to finalise their project for industry judging.
It has two aims to promote the industry and to promote the training and career options offered by QSPGA. Alana is a classic example of the career potential within the industry.
Ms Rojahn and Mr Cooper visited the school for a function which was attended by the Institutes senior managers to thank Roland for their continuing support and contributions.
Roland DG Australia Pty Ltd
www.rolanddg.com.au
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| Pictured from left to right are Graham Montgomery, Alana Rojahn, Sean Dewar, Kerry Emerson, Debbie Lanyon, Kelsey Duncan (obscured), Russell Cooper, Norm Jagger. They were checking a print-out from the Wide Format SP-540V digital printer with state-of-the-art Flexi 8 software, all donated by Roland DG. |
