Benny Landa

Benny Landa

Benny Landa, Founder of Landa Corp., Ltd.
Born 1946
Poland
Residence Israel
Nationality Canadian/Israeli
Occupation Chairman & CEO, Landa Corporation Ltd.

Benny Landa (born 1946) is an Israeli entrepreneur, inventor, and holder of 800 patents worldwide. He founded Indigo Digital Press in 1977 and The Landa Group in 2003. In the print production industry, Landa is often referred to as the "father of commercial digital printing."[1][2]

Early life

Landa was born in Poland in 1946. When he was two years old, his family emigrated from Europe to Edmonton, Alberta. While in Canada, Landa’s father devised a new camera using bicycle parts and pulleys that captured images directly onto photographic paper, avoiding the need for film.[3]

Education

Landa studied physics and engineering at the Technion in Israel and psychology and literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He later graduated from the London Film School.

Business career

In 1969, Landa began his professional career at CAPS, a micrographics research company. He helped develop a new micrographic product that earned the company a major contract with Rolls-Royce Aero Engine Division – and led to Landa’s appointment as head of R&D.

In 1971, Benny Landa and a colleague co-founded Imtec, a company that would become Europe's largest micrographics company. Landa invented the company’s core imaging technology. While researching liquid toners, he developed a method of high-speed image development that would lead to the invention of ElectroInk™.

Landa moved to Israel in 1974. Applying the filmless imaging concept first developed by his father, Landa founded Indigo Digital Printing in 1977. In 1993 at IPEX, he introduced the E-Print 1000, the world's first digital color printing press. Bypassing the printing plate setup process, the new digital process eliminated numerous costly and time-consuming steps associated with offset printing. It enabled printing from a computer file directly onto paper and launched short-run, on-demand, and variable data printing into the marketplace. Using ElectroInk™, the new Indigo digital press applied small liquid color particles and an electric charge to form a thin, smooth, plastic layer on paper. By the 1990s, Indigo emerged as a significant alternative to traditional offset press manufacturers, such as Miehle, Komori and Heidelberg.

In 2002, Landa sold Indigo Digital Printing to Hewlett-Packard for US$830 million.[4] Following the acquisition of Indigo, Landa established The Landa Group to engage in nanotechnology research. Working with nanoparticles, Landa and his team of PhDs sought to capture environmental heat from the surrounding air and convert it to useful electricity. Landa’s research group observed that many materials exhibit unusual properties at the nano-level. They used that discovery to experiment with pigment colorants for print production.

Landa created Landa Digital Printing to further commercialize the nanotechnology solution for printing. The group developed a printing ink using the nanopigments, called Landa NanoInk™ and an offset digital printing process called Nanography™.[5]

Landa introduced Nanography™ and a line of Nanographic Printing™ presses at drupa[6][7][8] in 2012. The new Nanography™ technology enables high-speed digital printing with B1 (41 in. / 1,050 mm) format media on all forms of substrates, including untreated paper, films or plastic. Nanography™ fills a productivity gap that separates offset and digital printing by allowing printers to produce short-to-medium run lengths more cost-effectively.

In 2014, Landa was named by international accounting firm Ernst & Young as “Israel Entrepreneur of the Year.” The contest has been viewed as one of the predictors of business success with 50 of the 100 leading NASDAQ companies having won the prestigious competition.[9]

In April 2015, Printing Industries of New England (PINE) presented Landa with its PINE Industry Influencer Award.[10]

Philanthropy

In 2002, with his wife Patsy, Landa established the Landa Fund for Equal Opportunity Through Education. The Fund enables Israeli youth of “privileged minds and underprivileged means” to achieve higher education. The Landa Fund also supports young recent immigrants and Israeli Arabs to acquire university degrees. The Fund has invested more than $50 million at all six of Israel’s universities, allowing thousands of Israeli youth to pursue higher education. The Landa Fund also supports non-profit organizations in the fields of education and the advancement of shared citizenship, tolerance, and understanding between Israel’s Jewish and Arab citizens.

Honorary Doctorate Degrees

Board Memberships

Awards

Other Affiliations

References

  1. ↑ Prophet of print: Benny Landa hopes to strike nano-gold
  2. ↑ Benny Landa's invisible ink. YNet
  3. ↑ "Meet the Benny Landa You Never Knew". Graphic Arts Magazine.
  4. ↑ "HP Acquires Indigo". American Printer.
  5. ↑ "The Basics of Nanotechnology".
  6. ↑ "Shhh. The Sex is Back in Print".
  7. ↑ "Benny and the Ink Jets". My Print Resource.
  8. ↑ "In Search of Benny the Prophet of Rehovot". Print 21.
  9. ↑ Benny Landa named Israeli entrepreneur of the year
  10. ↑ Landa to Receive Industry Influencer Award from PINE at Awards Gala
  11. ↑ "Indigo Founder Benny Landa Awarded Edwin H. Land Medal".
  12. ↑ "Indigo pioneer wins Reed Technology medal".