The Scientific & Technical Committee brings together professionals, industry representatives, academics and experts
Observing how supply chains and markets are changing, interpreting the signals they send and anticipating the transformations affecting packaging and processing. This is the objective behind the creation of Ipack Ima’s Scientific & Technical Committee (STC), which brings together industry representatives, academics, professionals and stakeholders to provide the professional community with new perspectives on the evolution of the sector.
Building bridges through dialogue
The STC brings together cross-disciplinary expertise and a diversity of experience to take
IPACK-IMA well beyond the days of the exhibition itself, creating new connections between some of the key issues reshaping industry: digitalization and AI; sustainability, materials, regulations and energy; markets and internationalization; safety, traceability and health; the relationship between technology users and manufacturers; and new business models.
A new home for the professional community
The STC introduces a new way of engaging the professional community surrounding IPACK-IMA, bringing together perspectives and experiences from different sectors.
In doing so, IPACK-IMA extends beyond the boundaries of the exhibition and strengthens dialogue across supply chains over time, offering new perspectives on the changes affecting packaging, processing and materials.
IPACK-IMA’s keywords for innovation
This objective takes shape through the STC’s cross-disciplinary expertise and four key words: observe, interpret, connect, support.
“The STC is a think tank where we aim to encourage dialogue between worlds that are often regarded as separate: technology manufacturers and users, companies and the research community, large corporations and SMEs, as well as different industrial sectors that can share technologies, challenges and solutions,” says Chairman Luciano Sottile “Our real ambition for 2028 is therefore for IPACK-IMA not simply to be the place where people meet during the exhibition, but a point of reference that the professional community can turn to over time to understand how its sector is changing and help shape its evolution.”
The STC thus becomes the driving force behind a programme of activities that will accompany IPACK-IMA on its journey towards 2028: multichannel editorial content, from magazines to videos and social media, as well as institutional meetings with stakeholders and key representatives of target markets.
These activities will be complemented by dialogue with schools and universities, the involvement of young professionals and the development of events leading up to IPACK-IMA 2028, maintaining an ongoing exchange with an increasingly dynamic market.
STC members
The STC brings together expertise from industry, academia, research and trade associations. Its members are:
Luciano Sottile, Chairman of the IPACK-IMA Scientific & Technical Committee
Carlo Alberto Carnevale-Maffè, Professor of Strategy at SDA Bocconi
Erik Ciravegna, Coordinator of the Packaging Innovation Observatory at the University of Bologna
Alberto Palaveri, Vice President of Assografici
Anna Paola Cavanna, President of Laminati Cavanna
Antonio Feola, Sustainability Director at Unione Italiana Food
Luca Baraldi, Chief Research Manager at MECS
Marco Taisch, Professor of Digital Manufacturing at Politecnico di Milano
Francesco Legrenzi, Director of the Italian Packaging Institute
Gianni Squitieri, Coordinator of the Presidency Committee of the Foundation for Sustainable Development
IPACK-IMA is a member of The Innovation Alliance, the alliance bringing together Italy’s leading capital goods exhibitions: Print4All (Fiera Milano, 25–28 May 2027), GreenPlast and INTRALOGISTICA ITALIA (Fiera Milano, 29 May–1 June 2028), and Plast (Fiera Milano, 15–18 May 2029). It is an integrated project connecting events held in different years, all part of the same industrial supply chain.
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