2009 Clear Choice Awards Judges

Ben Miyares

Vice President, Industry Relations, Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute

Ben has worked in the packaging business since 1963 as a Jesse Neal Award winning journalist, writer, market and technology analyst, packaging consultant, conference organizer, commentator and frequent speaker on packaging topics at numerous international conferences, association meetings, corporate and consumer programs.

Chris Lyons

Group Publisher, ST Media, Design Group

Chris founded Lyons Media Inc. in 2003 with the launch of Package Design Magazine, and RFID Product News, and all affiliated websites, e-newsletters, webinars and audio casts. In March 2008 Package Design Magazine and RFID Product News were sold to ST Media Group, of Cincinnati, Ohio, publishers of Signs of Times, Big Picture, VMSD, SSEN, Screen Printing, and Hospitality Style. Chris now serves as Group Publisher of the Design Group for ST Media. Chris manages the publishing efforts of Package Design, Visual Merchandising and Store Design (VMSD) the International Retail Design Conference (IRDC), Hospitality Style Magazine, and RFID Product News.

Dennis E. Young

CPP, Specialist, MSU School of Packaging

Dennis Young is a faculty member of the School of Packaging at Michigan State University. He has over 40 years of packaging industry experience at IBM, Lansmont Corporation and Dennis Young and Associates, his consulting firm. Dennis has a Bachelor of Science degree from the School of Packaging and a Master of Science degree in Service Management from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Dennis is a Certified Packaging Professional, Fellow Member of IoPP, a member of ASTM International and Vice President-Strategic Innovation of the International Safe Transit Association (ISTA).

Erika Doering

Founder of Erika Doering Design and Instructor at Parsons The New School for Design and Pratt Institute

Erika Doering is an architectural interior designer and educator specializing in sustainable design. She studied Studio Art and Architecture at the University of Vermont and in Florence, Italy, and received a Masters degree in Industrial Design from the Pratt Institute in New York. She worked in the field of architecture and interior design for many years before founding Erika Doering Design (services include custom furniture design to architectural detailing) in 1996. Erika teaches Sustainable Design at Parsons Product Design Department and Pratt Institute. She is a long-standing member of O2NY and a co-founder of the Association of Women Industrial Designers (AWID).