Honorary professorship for packaging expert

Pierre Pienaar, the education director of the Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) and vice president – Education, World Packaging Organisation (WPO), has had an honorary professorship conferred upon him by a leading Chinese university, the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication.

Professor Xueke Luo, the president of the university, said that Pienaar’s achievements in packaging education and training throughout South-East Asia and globally is widely recognised, and the university also recognises his contribution to China.

During his acceptance speech, Pienaar said he was honoured to have this honorary title conferred upon him and amazed at the level of packaging technology within the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication and China as a whole.

“Both the AIP and the WPO are looking forward to collaborating with the Chinese packaging community; specifically, within packaging education and the cultivation of packaging talent among aspiring students,” Pienaar said.

Pienaar is looking to establish platforms for academic and cultural exchange between the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication and the AIP and to improve the collaboration between the two institutions. He added that collaboration through the WPO will also enable a global awareness of what China has to offer the packaging community in packaging research and the development of innovative packaging ideas.