Youth and Glass Industry Members honoured

At the Annual General Meeting of The All India Glass Manufacturers’ Federation, Youth and Industry Members were honoured at Pride Plaza Aerocity Hotel, DELHI on Sept 30, 2024.

The program provided an excellent opportunity for The All India Glass Manufacturers Federation (AIGMF) to honour Youth of the country who participated from schools and colleges across India in its annual contest on ‘Glass Decorates’ or कांच से सजावट coinciding with the International Youth Day on August 12, 2024. Online entries were invited from the age group between 7-24 where hundreds of entries were received from educational institutes and youth across India.

Mr. Gurmeet Singh, Chairman, Federation of Safety Glass (FOSG) and Managing Director, Gurind India (P) Ltd.; Mr. G N Gohul Deepak, Executive Director, Glazing Society of India (GSI); Mr. Dave Fordham, Member Editorial Board of KANCH (AIGMF’s Glass journal), Former Publisher of Glass Worldwide magazine and Global Engagement Lead for Glass Futures (United Kingdom); and Mr. Vinit Kapur, Secretary of The All India Glass Manufacturers’ Federation were jury members who judged top 3 entries:

-         1st Prize (Rs. 25,000) was given to Aadita Kalra aged 12 years, 8th class student of Vikas Bharati Public School, DELHI

-         2nd Prize (Rs. 15,000) was given to Anushka aged 15 years, 10th class student of Bal Bharti School, Bahadurgarh HARYANA

-         3rd Prize (Rs. 10,000) were given each to:

a) Khush Mann aged 12 years, 7th class student of The Mann School, DELHI

b) Devang Dalvi aged 14 years, 10th class student of Reliance Foundation School, Lodhivali MAHARASHTRA

c) Nvyanna Khanna aged 15 years, 11th class student of Adarsh Public School, NEW DELHI

Special mention was made by the Jury for excellent works submitted by Mohd. Juned aged 22 years, a student of Bachelor of Arts, Jamia Millia Islamia, DELHI and Akshita Tejwani aged 16 years, 12th class student of Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls School, Jaipur RAJASTHAN; both are 1st prize winners of Youth contest for 2023 and 2022 respectively. Winning entries can be viewed at www.aigmf.com

The prestigious annual ‘CK Somany Award for Excellence’ was given to Dr. Manoj Choudhary, Former President of the International Commission on Glass. The ‘Balkrishna Gupta Award for Exports’ was bestowed to M/s Schott Poonawalla Pvt. Ltd. The inaugural ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ was bestowed to Mr. Prem Malhotra of Glacera Engineers.

Dr. Choudhary holds a long list of PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE i.e. Chair, North America Steering Committee for the United Nations International Year of Glass; Member of the Steering Committee of the International Commission on Glass; President, the International Commission on Glass; Director, the American Ceramic Society; Chair, Glass and Optical Materials Division, American Ceramic Society; President (and one of the founders), Glass Manufacturing Industry Council; Trustee, Glass Manufacturing Industry Council; Program Chair, 18th International Congress on Glass, the International Commission on Glass; President of the Industry Liaison Board, NSF funded Industry-University Center for Glass Research, Alfred University; Program Chair, Glass and Optical Materials Division, American Ceramic Society and a long list of awards in his lifetime including Dr. Atmaram Memorial Lecture from CGCRI, M. G. Bhagat Memorial Lecture from the Indian Ceramic Society and Prof. L. David Pye Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Ceramic Society.

Dr. Choudhary is a fellow of the American Ceramic Society and the Society of Glass Technology and an Academician of the World Academy of Ceramics. His close and friendly association with India is certainly a boost for the Indian Glass Industry to benefit the most in forms of latest technology knowhow, expertise; and in the fields of research, innovation, etc.

M/s Schott Poonawalla Pvt. Ltd., has 3 state-of-the-art manufacturing units in Jambusar, Umarsadi and Baddi in India that produce an entire range of products including, bulk vials and ampoules, specialty vials and ampoules, siliconized vials and cartridges, and Ready-to-Use (RTU) vials and cartridges, and an entire range of glass pre- fillable syringes.

SCHOTT Poonawalla has successfully captured significant market share across international markets to expand the company's reach; thus, managing to generate a robust revenue from their export business in FY 2023-24.

The jury for the awards comprised of Dr. K Annapurna, Chief Scientist, Glass Division, CSIR-Central Glass & Ceramic Research Institute (CSIR-CGCRI) and Member Editorial Board KANCH; Mr. Dave Fordham, Former Publisher, Glass Worldwide, London (UK); Member Editorial Board KANCH and Global Engagement Lead, Glass Futures, St. Helens (UK); Mr. Amit Malhotra, President, Confederation of Construction Products and Services; Treasurer, uPVC Window & Door Manufacturers Association and Managing Director, McCoy Silicones Ltd.; and Mr. Pawan Kumar Shukla, Executive Committee Member AIGMF and Managing Director, Schott Glass India Pvt. Ltd.

“I am honored to be part of the Jury to select worthy contenders for the 7th AIGMF Glass Awards. I offer my felicitations to Dr. Manoj Choudhary for winning the prestigious CK Somany award for Excellence for his exceptional leadership and service to the global glass community. Further, I congratulate M/s Schott Poonawalla Ltd., for receiving the esteemed Balakrishna Gupta Award for its notable exports.” said Dr. K. Annapurna, Chief Scientist, CSIR- Central Glass & Ceramics Research Institute, Kolkata.

“Awarding Dr. Manoj Choudhary with the CK Somany Award for Excellence further cements his legendary status in the global glass industry. Joining the high profile list of previous winners of this prestigious accolade is well deserved recognition for his continuous contributions over the decades. Despite challenging global market conditions, SCHOTT Poonawalla’s highly commendable export figures make them very worthy winners of this year’s Balkrishna Gupta Award.” said Mr. Dave Fordham, Global Engagement Lead, Glass Futures, St. Helens (UK).

“I am honored and most grateful. For me, it is a very special feeling to be recognized in and by my country of birth. I left India 50 years ago. This has been a physical separation. My heart has always remained in India. I am profoundly grateful.” said Dr. Manoj K. Choudhary, recipient of CK Somany Award for Excellence.

“The inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Mr. Prem Malhotra for his dedicated 53 years of service to the Glass Industry not limited to India but to the worldwide clients. Mr. Malhotra who also acts as a special Correspondent for AIGMF’s quarterly journal Kanch (Glass), has worked for over hundred Indian glass projects across all glass segments. He has been instrumental in putting Indian glass technology on the world map with his innovative designs that has helped to lower the energy costs while also reducing capital expenses, hence improving the environment friendliness of the Indian Glass Industry.” said the Secretary AIGMF, Mr. Vinit Kapur.

The cash prizes for the Youth were sponsored by Schott Glass India Pvt. Ltd., producing Type I pharma tubing primarily meant for Glass Vials which were also supplied worldwide for packaging COVID vaccination. Mr. Pawan Kumar Shukla, Managing Director of Schott Glass India Pvt. Ltd., and Executive Committee Member AIGMF congratulated the winners and said involving Youth in sustainable projects is extremely important to create a better living society. 

As a token of appreciation, Top 50 entries of the Glass Decorates contest will get a specially designed 2024 Calendar Glass Bottle made out of recycled glass (specially manufactured by AGI Glaspac).

01.10.2024, AIGMF