Rutgers Packaigng Engineering students were participated Packaging Jamboree 2017 at RIT and had great time for 3 days. Here are some essays from our students for different activities
About Keynot Speaker by Eric Carvajal
It was a pleasure attending Packaging Jamboree 2017 at the RIT campus this past week. There were many things I enjoyed: getting to know students from other schools, learning more about the challenges members of the packaging industry are now facing, and hearing more about the different initiatives companies are pursuing to promote sustainability. Of all the talks, I most enjoyed the speech given by Ben Urquhart, co-owner of the family owned corrugated manufacturing company NEWW. The talk was great because it showed how companies need to be ready to adapt quickly to new trends in the packaging industry, the current trend being digital printing. Ben talked about how his company is leveraging the advancement of digital printing to bring sales to other more established parts of his business. By printing out samples for prospective customers, Ben could quickly show how a shelf-ready package could come to life. The lessons learned from the speech extend far beyond corrugate manufacturing; in every area of packaging, professionals need to be ready to adapt to the changing technology and customer needs and use them as a guide for the future operation and direction of their companies. NEWW has been owned by Ben’s family for centuries and with his commitment to embracing new technologies and trends he will make sure that continues. Ben’s story was really the highlight of my experience at Pack Jam, and definitely worked to inspire the next generation of packaging engineers to continue pushing the possibilities of packaging technology.
About Breakout Session by Edward Kim
The Packaging Jamboree holds several information gatherings where one can select a “Breakout Session” and go learn what intrigues themselves. During Packaging Jamboree 2017 hosted by R.I.T Packaging Science, they held 3 “Breakout Sessions” with 3-4 topics to choice from. The first “Breakout Session” includes “Packaging and E-Commerce” by Complemar, talking about future possibilities about packaging designs when buying/selling online; “Tackling Food Waste” by Wegmans, how packaging can affect food waste and turn it into opportunity; and “Brand Management and Design” by Esko, explaining how brand management are completed within different methods of selling and advertisement while knowing about marketing skills such as zero moment of truth (ZMOT).
The second and third “Breakout Sessions” hold some similar sessions so people can check out a session that collided with another one. The second “Breakout Sessions” held “Evolution of Digital Printing” by Bob Eller, telling about how digital printing is going to have an important role in the future; “Graduate Research” by Lakshmi, showing what graduate packaging students have been developing during their research; “Digital Printing Processes” by Dan Clark, actually showing digital printing machines and uses in real time, and “Packaging Evaluation Prep” by Thomas Kausch, presenting test machines on evaluating packages. “Breakout Session” 3 had “Starting a Packaging Engineering Team” by Harris to explain strategy and challenges in a Packaging Engineering team, “Design for the User Experience” by Alex Lobos, discussing how user experience meet the needs in meeting packaging demands; and previously mentioned “Digital Printing Processes” and “Packaging Evaluation Prep”. With this array of topics, attendees will find something of interest and learn more about packaging.
Packaging Jamboree was an experience I will not forget. There, I meet several people who are inspired to become packaging scientist or engineer and made connections. I also had challenges and worked with new people to complete a design. This experience was benefiting for becoming a packaging engineer.
About Corrugated Board Competition by Edward Lee
The last day at RIT for Packaging Jamboree, we were split up into our teams in order to participate in a competition that involved us using a corrugated board. With two huge sheets of corrugated board, we were asked to create a chair for one of the staff’s children to sit on. However, we had to keep multiple factors in mind as we were creating our chair, such as creating a sturdy chair for the child to sit on, while using the least amount of materials (tape and board) as possible. This activity was a very good way for the students to bond; I know for me, I am pretty shy in a big environment, and splitting up into smaller groups and doing a project was a very good way for me to get closer to the students in my group. Also, it was fun to bounce off all the different ideas we all had, and then picking one to make the actual project on. Although I wish we could’ve done a team bonding activity earlier in Packaging Jamboree, it was fun to collaborate with other students from different universities and create a chair to compete with other groups.
Interacting with Other Students by Alex Phung & Rushiraj Parikh
Packaging Jamboree is a student-led conference for packaging students and professionals held annually at one of the main college campuses with a packaging program. This year it was held at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. It is a three-day event that includes presentations, networking, and activities that revolve around a central theme. The main purpose of this event was to allow for students to interact with other packaging students from across the country. In my opinion, Pack Jam was successful in accomplishing this goal. I was able to network with professionals and many students from Michigan State, Virginia Tech, Clemson, etc. Packaging is a small community, many students that I have one class with are the same students that are in all my other classes. It was refreshing to meet other people that are also passionate about packaging. Overall, I had a very friendly experience mingling with everyone there. One of the things I noticed was that because Rutgers Packaging is under the engineering discipline, we tend to more of a technical thought process. This includes the way we talk, the way we act, and our approach when solving problems. In other schools where packaging is not under the engineering discipline, they tend to have more of a creative and aesthetic approach. I believe this experience was very rewarding because, many of the people I met at Pack Jam will likely to be the same people I will be working with in the future.
On Friday March 10, all university students attending Pack Jamboree 2017 went to RIT’s on campus ice skating ring. After a long day of guest lectures and breakout sessions, the Pack Jam attendees had two hours to unwind and enjoy Olympic sport on a frozen arena. Figure skating shoes were offered to first time skaters and hockey shoes were used by experienced skaters. The ice rink helped numerous students gain their first skating experience. Student workers were present at the arena to ensure that all injuries receive proper medical treatment. Several students from various colleges worked together to help their colleagues achieve balance. Students who were experienced in ice skating took the opportunity to race each other. The audience, mostly made up to professors and injured athletes, witnessed the students gasp, smile, scream, cry, and laugh. The session was truly a unique experience because it brought together students from multiple states and helped them bond over the joys of falling.