Page 14 - Packaging News magazine Sep-Oct 2022

TECH SPEAK
Quest for
the qualified
packaging
technologist
How can the packaging industry work together to fill knowledge gaps and skills shortages, and help industry players become qualified packaging technologists, designers and engineers? AIP’s executive director Nerida Kelton has the answer.
IT IS FAIR to say that if you were to graduate high school tomorrow in Australia and New Zealand
there is no direct career path to become a qualified packaging technologist.
With no undergraduate degrees in packaging technology avail- able through universities in the region, many find their way into the industry via an engineering, industrial design or food science degree. Very few people start their working life as a packaging technologist or engineer.
...the recent abundance of job advertisements for skilled packaging technologists, often thinly veiled as sustainability or procurement roles, is a clear sign that the industry is in desperate search for the ever-elusive qualified packaging technologist.”
Packaging designer Azadeh Yousefi at work.
The challenge is that Packaging Design and Technology is in fact a science that requires the appropri- ate higher education and training in the discipline.
The flow-on effect is that even though packaging design is well and truly in the spotlight, there is a limited supply of truly quali- fied packaging technologists and designers in the region. Most of these talented people are already entrenched in a business and are not looking to leave their current role any time soon.
There is a juxtaposition happen- ing right now in the industry and it is interesting to watch.
On one hand, the recent abun- dance of job advertisements for skilled packaging technologists, often thinly veiled as sustainabil- ity or procurement roles, is a clear sign that the industry is in des- perate search for the ever-elusive qualified packaging technologist.
On the other hand, the high volume of applications every year
for the Australasian Bioplastics Association (ABA) and the Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) Scholarship Program indi- cates that many people are looking to upskill and become a qualified packaging technologist. The appli- cants are often young and new to the industry with limited income to be able to invest in a packaging degree. They see the scholarship program as the answer.
The sad reality is that there are not enough scholarships available each year for all of the extremely competent applicants.
So how can the industry work together to fill knowledge gaps and skills shortages? How can we help those already in the industry to become qualified packaging tech- nologists, designers and engineers?
The solutions are available and have been for over forty years. As the peak professional body for packaging training and educa- tion in Australasia, the AIP offers an internationally accredited and
14 ❙ SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER 2022
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