AIP appoints new Vice-President

Pierre Pienaar FAIP has been appointed as Vice-President of the Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP).

Currently Chairman of the Queensland branch of the AIP, Pierre is also a long standing tutor to the AIP Certificate and Diploma courses in packaging and is a key member of the AIP packaging training program. Pienaar has previously headed up the South African Institute of Packaging and has strong links with the IoP, PIABC and other packaging institutes around the world.

National President of the AIP, Craig Wellman, MAIP, believes that “Pierre brings a wealth of talent to the executive of the AIP and the industry at large.

“Pierre’s experience in education for the packaging industry makes him enormously relevant to the AIP charter of education and professional development, and in the context of the AIP’s expanding range of education and training activities, makes him well placed to lead the organisation in the future,” Wellman said.

Pienaar will hold the position of Vice-President until the AIP National Conference in June 2010 where he will succeed Craig Wellman as a broad succession plan laid in by the AIP National Board.

“I look forward to working with Pierre in the next two years and beyond. Pierre, like many in the AIP, makes a contribution beyond the call of duty and has shown over the many years his passion and commitment to the packaging industry. Pierre has a steady hand and will do a wonderful job with this and future roles in the AIP,” Wellman said.

Pierre Pienaar’s interest in packaging started in 1984 after having studied pharmacy. Shortly after joining a large pharmaceutical company, Pierre became concerned about a number of packaging-related issues in the pharmaceutical world. Hence, Pierre began his studies in packaging and his move within the same company to packaging research and development. This combined field has taken him to the far corners of the world, always involving one or other aspects of research in packaging.

Pienaar has a Master of Science Degree (Packaging Engineering/ Technology) from Brunel University, UK and a Master of Manufacturing and Production Degree from University of Hertfordshire, UK. He has been National President of the South African Institute of Packaging, a Director of the Packaging Council of Southern Africa and a representative on the board of the World Packaging Organisation. He has lectured in the technology and science of packaging at various universities for the past 20 years and is currently a tutor for the correspondence course being offered through the Australian Institute of Packaging, namely the Diploma in Packaging IoP UK.

For more information about the courses the AIP offers, visit the association's website.