The Pittsburgh Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) recently hosted its 2025 Renaissance Awards, honoring local organizations, agencies, businesses and communicators in Pittsburgh for their innovative work across all aspects of public relations and marketing communications.
HAVAS Red is proud to have taken home two awards – one for our work with longtime client MilliporeSigma, the U.S. and Canada Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and one for account supervisor Ian Ponitz, who was named a Rising Star.
On behalf of MilliporeSigma, we won a Renaissance Award in media relations for our work to promote its Curiosity Cube 2024 tour. To ignite student interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), MilliporeSigma created the Curiosity Cube — a 22×10-foot retrofitted shipping container that has been transformed into a mobile science lab that travels throughout North America and Europe.
HAVAS Red was tasked with rousing media attention for the 2024 tour, with 250+ visits across North America and Europe. To date, we’ve secured over 1.45 billion media coverage impressions, including 99 broadcast placements and 69 print/digital article placements. Beyond media placements, the Curiosity Cube has had a real impact on students by increasing science literacy. In previous surveys, 95% of students increased their understanding of science technology after visiting, and 100% of teachers said the Curiosity Cube created a fun learning environment and they would participate again.
Ian, whom PRSA Pittsburgh named a Rising Star, began his career at HAVAS Red as a fellow in February 2021 and since has been promoted three times in this short time — to account executive (February 2022), to senior account executive (May 2024) and, most recently, to account supervisor (September 2024).
During his four years at HAVAS Red, Ian has become an integral and indispensable member of our team — excelling in everything from providing above-and-beyond client support, to helping our clients shine to key stakeholders through his media relations skills, to serving as a mentor to his peers within the agency and to the next-generation of PR pros through his volunteering at his undergraduate alma mater.
In accepting his Rising Star award, which recognizes a young PR professional, Ian says, “It’s truly an honor to have been nominated by my colleagues. However, it’s also safe to say that I wouldn’t be here without their help as they’ve been critical to my development as a PR pro. This award isn’t just a reflection of what I’ve achieved, it also reflects the quality of support I’ve received from my teams. This award also goes to all the Redsters who helped me along the way.”
See all the winners here.
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