UW-Stout Packaging Program to Host International Student-Led Conference
For three days in April, students from packaging universities and colleges in the U.S. and Canada will connect with industry professionals and alumni to showcase the impact that packaging has on the world.
University of Wisconsin-Stout’s Stout Packaging Association student members will host Packaging Jamboree 2024, or Pack Jam, an annual student-led conference, from Sunday, April 7, to Tuesday, April 9.
“Pack Jam gives students the benefits of collaborating in competition; networking with students from different universities, industry professionals and alumni; and learning about current industry trends and career opportunities,” said packaging Program Director Min DeGruson.
Schools that traditionally attend are Clemson University, Dunwoody College of Technology, Hennepin Technical College, Michigan State University, Northwood Technical College, Rochester Institute of Technology, Virginia Tech, Rutgers University, Toronto Metropolitan University and more.
Registration is open through Monday, March 25.
It’s More Than a Package
SPA provides networking and educational opportunities to prepare students to become packaging professionals. They created this year’s Pack Jam theme – It’s More Than a Package.
“The idea behind our theme was to encompass all of what we’re learning. Packaging might seem like a niche degree, but there are broad opportunities in the field with diverse employers – from usability, sustainability, innovative new designs and materials and more,” said SPA President Greyson Hammer.
Pack Jam events open to the public on April 8 include a Student Packaging Design Competition beginning at 1:30 p.m., in Johnson Fieldhouse, with an awards ceremony at 6:30 p.m.; and a Networking Fair, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., in the Memorial Student Center Great Hall. SPA encourages the community to visit and see what the packaging industry is all about.
During the competition, teams will be formed of students from diverse schools. They will be challenged to erect, pack and stack boxes on a pallet.
“Along the way, some fun and interesting challenges will allow teams to get different boxes or items – some good, some bad. In the end, they will run their pallet through an obstacle course, testing how stable their pallet really is,” said SPA Vice President Ethan Myers.
Hammer, of Milton, believes Pack Jam is an opportunity for students to build connections within their own age group. “We’re the future of this field. We can meet students from other university programs who will be entering the workforce with us, people we get to work with in the future. We can make those connections now and bring them forward as we enter the field,” he said.
Industry professionals and alumni can connect with students for recruitment for employment, co-op or internship opportunities at the fair.
“As the job market is on the students’ side, companies are fighting for good students as future employees,” said DeGruson, who thinks the fair is as large a benefit to professionals as to students.
“Packaging is so unexplored. The field has existed for so long, but it’s only now being recognized. It’s so new and so fresh,” said Myers, of Pleasant Prairie. “As we graduate and enter the field, we get to bring those new innovations forward to our communities.”
UW-Stout students have won multiple competitions over the last couple of years, including the Pack Expo Amazing Race collegiate competition and Flexible Packaging Association Student Design Challenge.
In 2023, Myers, with fellow packaging major Lukas David, of Johnson Creek, and Zach Hoffmire, a senior in video production from Kenosha, won the Paperboard Packaging Alliance student competition and the Institute of Packaging Professionals’ 48HR REPACK student design competition.
Graduates of the packaging program are 100% employed or continuing education within one year of graduation, according to Career Services’ First Destination Report. UW-Stout is one of only a few schools in the U.S, and the only school in the Universities of Wisconsin, that offers a B.S. in packaging.
A focus on sustainability, innovation and usability
Pack Jam will include opening and closing remarks by Chancellor Katherine Frank and Provost Glendalí Rodríguez.
A keynote panel with industry professionals will be moderated by Cory Connors, popular packaging podcaster and director of sustainable packaging at Orora Packaging Solutions. Connors will speak about social media in packaging and how it can help career development, followed by interviews with the panel on their area of focus, either sustainability or innovation in packaging.
Lectures and breakout sessions will include:
- Inspiring Change through Packaging, with Elaine Zimmerman and Eva Caspary. Zimmerman is a packaging engineer and resident subject matter expert on Lifecycle Analysis at Pregis Innovation Headquarters. Caspary is a sustainable solutions specialist for Pregis.
- Leveraging Life Cycle Assessments for Optimal Sustainable Packaging Design, with Sarah Webber and Zach Muscato. Webber is a sustainable packaging engineer at Plastic Ingenuity, a custom thermoformer, headquartered near Madison. Muscato is the corporate sustainability manager for Plastic Ingenuity.
- Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Packaging Innovation, with Euihark Lee. Lee is an assistant professor in the School of Packaging at Michigan State University and is known for his commitment to advancing the efficiency and sustainability of engineering designs.
- Secrets to Consumer-Centric Innovation: Packaging Human Factors and Usability Engineering, with Chad Betlach. Betlach is a UW-Stout packaging alum with more than 15 years of experience in the medical device industry. He is a principal packaging engineer at Boston Scientific.
- Professional Development Panel, led by Don Handrow, vice president of Product Development at Prent Corporation.
Conference attendees will also visit five packaging labs during campus tours, including the Packaging Material, Distribution, Prototype, Machinery and Computer labs, as well as other STEM labs in Jarvis Hall and the Applied Arts Building.
During the final day, students will participate in a community service project focused on renewability and sustainability.
Pack Jam 2024 sponsors include Prent Thermoforming, Target, International Corrugated Packaging Foundation, Institute of Packaging Professionals medical technical committee, Pratt Industries, Boston Scientific, Hormel, Keiding Inc., Labthink, Oliver, Seal Strip, Ten-E, Belmark, Green Bay Packaging, MDTPC, Packaging Compliance Labs, PMMI, Post Consumer Brands, Pregis, Scotch/3M, Silgan Containers and SpecRight.
The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with Packaging Impressions. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Packaging Impressions.
