New board for International Hologram Manufacturers Association

The International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA) has elected a new board following its recent AGM – and the end of a successful year marking the 60th anniversary of the invention of the hologram.

The IHMA is made up of 90 of the world's leading hologram companies, including producers and converters of holograms for banknote security, anti-counterfeiting, brand protection, packaging, graphics and other commercial applications around the world. Member companies actively cooperate to maintain the highest professional, security and quality standards.

Optaglio’s Philip Hudson (pictured) becomes the new chairman. Fellow board members are Khalid Khanani of Metatex (Pakistan) and Rob Levy of Holo-Source (USA). Simone Foine of Centro Grafico (Italy) becomes the new regional representative for the EU/EFTA, while Manoj Kochar of Holoflex (India) is the new deputy regional representative for Asia.

The board is now comprised as follow:
• Philip Hudson – Optaglio (UK/CzechRepublic) – chairman
• Khalid Khanani – Metatex (Pakistan) – board member
• Rob Levy –  Holo-Source (USA) – board member
• G S Dillon – Alpha Lasertek (India) – Asian representative
• Manoj Kochar – Holoflex (India) – deputy Asian representative
• Laurence Holden – JDSU (USA) – North American representative
• Pedro de Eguiluz Selvas – Fast Forms (Mexico) – deputy North American representative
• Simone Foine – Centro Grafico (Italy) – EU/EFTA representative 
• Goran Milinovic – System Intelligence Products (Serbia) – East Europe/CIS representative 
• Dmitry Paltsev – First Print Yard Holographics (Russia) – deputy East Europe/CIS representative

At the meeting, chairman Philip Hudson said: ‘2008 was a year of remarkable technical achievement and progress. The industry is a very strong position, with innovation being driven not only by established hologram companies but also those new to the industry.  New ideas and investment is allowing the holography industry to expand rapidly – borne out by the membership of the IHMA, which stands at an all time high with more than 90 and is expected to reach 100 soon.’

The AGM also saw the announcement of the winner of the IHMA’s competition to design a hologram for the organization. Optaglio’s winning 3D image will feature on all future IHMA promotional and stationery items.

Ian Lancaster of the IHMA secretariat presented Petr Vizdal of Optaglio with a check for GBP 1000, which will be shared out among the team that created the hologram.

Click here for more stories about the International Hologram Manufacturers Association on L&L.com.