Scholarship awarded at Cormack Innovation Awards

The Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) awarded the second scholarship for the Certificate in Packaging during the recent Cormack Innovation Awards evening.

The AIP Certificate in Packaging is an internationally accredited course developed by the Institute of Packaging UK (IoP) and holds recognition in 27 countries.

According to Pierre Pienaar, FAIP, National President of the AIP, the scholarship was awarded to Eric Chau who is an industrial design student at the University of New South Wales and was a finalist in the 2010 Cormack Innovation Awards.

Eric Chau, a student of the University of New South Wales, impressed the panel of judges with his obvious enthusiasm and passion to pursue a career within the packaging industry.

“Eric actively seeks unpaid internships to broaden his knowledge and gain valuable networks within the industry. With still a year and a half of his industrial design degree left to complete, Eric has already completed a diploma in business management and is a regular at AIP site visits and active in student programs,” Pienaar said.

“He impressed the judges further with his knowledge and insight into today’s packaging issues and had sound advice on how he interpreted the resolution of these issues.

“With a maturity and drive of those older in years, Chau was a stand-out candidate for the panel and was a unanimous winner. As a curios person by nature, the judges believe that he will benefit from the AIP Scholarship and will actively utilise his skills to benefit the packaging industry by moving into a role in the design and development of materials once he has completed his studies. The panel of judges were impressed that a student could demonstrate such strong drive to want to succeed with clear goals and ambition. We look forward to a bright future from Eric.” he said.

According to Chau, “Winning the AIP scholarship will definitely change my whole career opening up endless possibilities.”

“The opportunity to broaden my discipline in packaging early on in my career will definitely set me apart from others in an industry I am very passionate about. I am eager to learn the many principles packaging design has to offer, one day to make an impact within the packaging industry,” Chau said.

The Cormack Innovation Award scholarship complements other programs initiated by the AIP including, the Australian Packaging and Processing Machinery Association scholarship for the Diploma in Packaging Technology and the AIP scholarship for the Certificate in Packaging for the PCA Southern Cross Awards.