New award reaches out to future developers of aluminium foil and closures

The Global Aluminium Foil Roller Initiative (GLAFRI) has announced the inauguration of The Robert V Neher Award, an academic competition designed to seek out and reward the very best in innovative packaging and technical applications within the context of aluminium foil and closures.

Named after the inventor of the aluminium foil rolling process, the Award welcomes submissions from students and academia from packaging, food and technical universities worldwide. Entries will be made online and entrants will submit an abstract, executive summary and the scientific work in the form of a white paper or dissertation.

Director General of GLAFRI, Stefan Glimm, outlined the purpose of the Award, “Every sector needs its innovators, and the aluminium foil and closure sector, through GLAFRI, has a great responsibility to encourage and develop talent for the future wellbeing of our industry.”

“The Award is a great opportunity to identify these future influencers and makes certain their talents are rewarded. Also it sends a strong message that the aluminium sector is a great place to seek a worthwhile career,” he continued.

Entry is open to any scientific work or research, including a bachelor, master or doctoral thesis, addressing technical, scientific or sustainable aspects of aluminium foil processing, application or use. While aluminium foil does not have to be the main focus of the scientific work, there should be considerable reference to it. The scientific work should be handed in as PDF and in English, along with the abstract (up to 500 words) and summary (maximum 1,200 words), highlighting how aluminium foil or closures have been addressed in the scientific work.

A cheque for EUR 10,000 will be presented for the award-winning work at the Robert V. Neher Award Ceremony, to be held at the Aluminium exhibition in Düsseldorf in October 2018. Thanks to co-sponsor Reed Exhibitions, the organiser of Aluminium fairs worldwide, travel and accommodation will be provided for the representative attending.

The Jury consist of five senior individuals with academic, as well as industrial backgrounds. The members of the first Award Jury are: Jürgen Hirsch (Prof. Dr.-Ing. senior scientist at Hydro Aluminium GmbH – R&D Centre); Tatsuo Sato (Professor Emeritus, Dr. Tokyo Institute of Technology); Marcelo Gonçalves (M.E., Ph.D. Professor – Escola Superior de Engenharia e Gestão, ESEG, Brazil); Paul D. Koning (Instructor – School of Packaging Michigan State University, USA) and Wang Zhutang (Prof. Member of expert committee, China Nonferrous Metals Fabrication Industry Association and Chief editor Aluminum Alloy and Processing Handbook in China).

The competition is open for entries at www.award.global-alufoil.org until the end of May 2018.