The purpose of the Young Packaging Professional of the Year Award is to provide incentive and recognition to young professionals who are both currently working in and wish to continue their career path within the Packaging industry in both Australia and New Zealand.
The 2024 Young Packaging Professional of the Year winner is Dr Ruby Chan, project researcher at RMIT University.
About the Award winner:
Starting out with a Bachelor of Industrial Design at Monash University, graduating with Honours and then graduating from a master’s degree in design innovation and technology at RMIT University, early career design researcher Chan has turned a career in sustainability from a dream to a reality.
When Chan began work as a research assistant at the RMIT School of Design she was excited as the research focused on packaging to reduce fresh produce waste.
Her current research relates to sustainability, focusing on save food packaging design and the integral role it plays in reducing food loss and waste, with much of this research connected to the Reduce program of End Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre (CRC).
In 2019, she started her PhD on packaging to reduce household food waste and this PhD was based at RMIT and part of the wider End Food Waste CRC AIP Save Food Packaging Design Criteria Project. The wider project was industry led, with the AIP at the helm.
By the time she graduated, she had already presented her research in conferences and published three peer-reviewed journal articles that are linked to the AIP Save Food Packaging Design Guidelines Project.
From design thinking to data analytics, the development activities Ruby has undertaken since leaving high school has equipped her with skills that are essential in her role as an early career researcher working in the space of food waste and packaging.
Whilst Chan has only just started her career, the AIP believes she has already left an indelible mark on the industry, and the Institute looks forward to seeing what she achieves next.
