In 2023, I was honoured to be named a Finalist in the Young Packaging Professional of the Year category at the Australasian Packaging Innovation & Design (PIDA) Awards. The award recognises emerging leaders across Australia and New Zealand who are actively shaping the future of packaging across food, beverage, health, beauty, and household industries.
At the time of nomination, I was working as an Industrial Designer at BioPak, leading complex product and packaging development projects focused on sustainable innovation. Being shortlisted alongside respected professionals from Pact Group, Goodman Fielder NZ, Planet Protector Packaging, and Philo & Co was a significant milestone in my career. It validated not just creative ability, but technical capability, commercial awareness, and long-term commitment to advancing the packaging industry.
My work has always sat at the intersection of design thinking and manufacturing reality. I've spent over a decade working directly with factories, suppliers, and global manufacturing partners — ensuring that sustainable packaging solutions are not just visually compelling, but scalable, compliant, and commercially viable. That hands-on approach has allowed me to lead successful transitions from traditional materials into fibre-based and lower-impact alternatives across high-volume product ranges.
Since the nomination, my role has evolved into Head of New Product Development at BioPak, where I now oversee global NPD strategy and execution. In 2024, I relocated to the UK for six months to support our international expansion, working closely with teams and partners to strengthen product development pipelines across regions. During this period and beyond, I have collaborated with brands including Deliveroo UK, Honest Burgers UK, Atis Foods UK, HelloFresh AU, Guzman y Gomez AU, Zambrero AU and many others.
The PIDA recognition represents more than a personal milestone — it reflects a philosophy I stand by: packaging must work in the real world. It must perform on production lines, meet regulatory requirements, protect product integrity, align with sustainability goals, and support brand storytelling simultaneously. Design alone is not enough. Commercial insight and manufacturing understanding are what turn ideas into scalable impact.
As I prepare to speak at Monash University to aspiring packaging and industrial design students, I see this nomination as part of a broader journey — contributing to the industry not only through product launches, but through mentorship, education, and thought leadership. Being named a PIDA Finalist was recognition of early leadership. The work since then is about building lasting influence.