The Glassberrries awards celebrated the best of digital in glass design and manufacturing last week.
The annual gathering – the first in person since the pandemic - challenged students to develop a glass packaging for the wine segment that will benefit from the datamatrix encoding technology, to make every bottle unique.
In total, 177 participants from 10 European universities submitted more than 120 projects, 84 finalist projects were selected, eight of which were awarded.
The ceremony took place at World of Wine in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal on June 29. With the landscape of the Douro River and in the heart of Port Wine cellars, customers, students, partners, professors, and BA Glass people were eager to share ideas and network
The ceremony was attended by guest speakers who addressed topics such as the importance of recycling as a key element to achieve the sustainable circularity of glass packaging, and, the presentation of the datamatrix encoding as a powerful tool for traceability and connection with consumers.
During the Q&A, BA Glass was questioned by some of its customers about the use of such technologies in their own products.
Reinaldo Coelho, the company’s Chief Technical Officer, explained how this process is already deployed and being tested in some of BA Glass production lines: “Right now, we are in a trial stage. We already have the equipment, and we are doing engravings and following the standards for this. What you saw here today is a reality.”
The students had the opportunity to present their proposals, explaining the process of developing their own concepts and designs. It was also an opportunity for the audience to give an extra award, the Ceremony Special Award.
The top spot went to Mariusz Śmietana and Hanna Kossakowska students at the University of Fine Arts in Poznan.
To wrap up, Sandra Santos, CEO of BA Glass, reinforced the company’s commitment to the development of better and more efficient processes supported by digitalisation, to comply with the market needs, meet sustainability targets and become more attractive.
