The Foundation
of Plastics Pioneers in Australia
The idea for a Plastics Pioneers group in Australia came from one of the Plastics Institute of Australia (PIA) John W Derham Memorial Award Lecturers Professor George Fowles. George was selected to be the lecturer for 1979 primarily on the basis of his work as Vice President of Marketing for B F Goodrich in the United States, and for the senior positions he had occupied in his home country within the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI).
Flying back on a sunny day from Western Australia where the lecture had been delivered, George and Bob Leschen, Executive Director for PIA, were sitting together. George mentioned in glowing terms the work of the Plastics Pioneers in the United States. He went on to say that it was a great organization which was bringing together the long-serving members of the industry. Both thought there could be a good opportunity for the PIA to sponsor such a body in Australia.
Ross Kingston, a long-serving PIA Victoria State Councillor was invited to set up Plastics Pioneers, and he accepted the challenge with enthusiasm, and the inaugural meeting was held on October 8th, 1979.
Today Plastics Pioneers lives on as a strong, well-united body of individual members who thoroughly enjoy the association and its activities.