John Spitzley is the 2020 recipient of a new Honor Award bestowed by the Medical Device Packaging Technical Committee (MDPTC) of the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP).

This annual award was created to recognize a person’s lifetime commitment to medical device packaging, as well as their industry contributions and advancements. The judges — a committee of industry experts — also consider the person’s alignment with the IoPP-MDPTC vision/mission, which is to provide a forum for medical device packaging professionals for discussion, exchange, and development of information on issues that affect them in areas of organization, problems and technical issues, regulations, standards, and new technologies.

Criteria for winning is:
• Years of service.
• Outstanding contributions.
• Committee leadership/participation.
• Speaking at conferences.
• Recognition for standards development.

David DiVaccaro, MDPTC ombudsman, awards chairperson, and principal of DiVaccaro Consulting Group LLC, announced this year’s winner on Wednesday, March 11, at HealthPack 2020 in Charlotte, NC.

Spitzley’s contributions to the medical device packaging community span several decades. He graduated from Michigan State’s School of Packaging in 1968 and worked at global medical device manufacturing leader Medtronic from 1973 to 2005, when he retired as Technical Fellow - Packaging. He is currently principal of Spartan Design Group, an engineering consultant firm specializing in medical products packaging.

Spitzley’s notable achievements over the years include:
• Co-chair of US delegation for the Assn. for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) Working Group 7 formed in 1992, which lead to ISO 11607 in 1997.
• Past chairman of the AdvaMed (Health Industry Manufacturers Assn./HIMA) Sterilization/Packaging Committee.
• Co-author of HIMA Sterile Packaging Guidance Document.
• IoPP Certified Packaging Professional (CPP) Lifetime.
• IoPP College of Fellows.
• Instrumental in the revival of IoPP’s Medical Device Packaging Technical Committee (MDPTC) in 2002.
• Program chair for HealthPack from 2005 to 2013, an event that has grown from a small regional conference to a global technical and research conference with more than 300 participants.
• Past executive board member for ASTM’s F02 “Flexible Barrier Packaging” committee, and current committee member.
• Named one of the “100 Notable People in the Medical Device Industry” in 2004 by Canon Communications (a previous owner of Packaging Digest).
• Cited in several industry articles, including “Avoiding ‘self-inflicted wounds’ in medical packaging” and “Looking back over 20 years of sterile medical packaging” published by Packaging Digest’s sister publication for a time Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News (PMP News).

Serving with DiVaccaro on this year’s award committee was Anna Thomas, Packaging Engineer III, SeaSpine; Manuel Martinez, Packaging Engineer, Cordis; Damian Rodriguez, CPP/MH, Corporate Package Engineering, B. Braun Medical Inc.; Jen Benolken, CPP/MH, Medical Device Manufacturing & Regulatory Specialist, Packaging Engineering, Tyvek, DuPont Protection Solutions; and Charles (Chuck) Taylor, Principal Packaging Engineer, Medtronic.