Five packaging students received financial support to attend the[PACK]out conference. Hear their enthusiastic stories about what they learned from the experience and how it may impact their careers.

Kassandra Kania, Freelance Writer

August 9, 2022

5 Slides

Thanks to the generosity of industry sponsors, five students ventured outside the classroom to attend hands-on conference sessions and networking opportunities at the[PACK]out, a new medical packaging conference that launched this past May. The experience opened their eyes to a plethora of career choices and sparked their enthusiasm for the healthcare packaging profession.

The scholarship award winners were (in alpha order):

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Kayla Chamberlain, 5th year student in the packaging program at University of Wisconsin-Stout, with an interest in medical device packaging.

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Maggie Dailey, senior in the packaging science program at Clemson University, with an emphasis in graphics and structural design and an interest in consumer goods and medical device/pharmaceutical packaging.

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Anna Kent, senior in the packaging program at University of Wisconsin-Stout, with an emphasis on business administration and an interest in medical device packaging.

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Sarah Webber, senior in the packaging program at University of Wisconsin-Stout, with an emphasis on packaging engineering and an interest in medical packaging design.

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Dangkamol Wongthanaroj, Ph.D. student at Michigan State University’s School of Packaging, with an interest in medical packaging engineering and design.

Webber’s attendance was covered by her employer Oliver Healthcare Packaging, while Dailey received her scholarship from the Institute of Packaging Professionals’ (IoPP) Medical Device Packaging Technical Committee (MDPTC).

Chamberlain, Kent, and Wongthanoroj’s sponsor chose to remain anonymous, describing himself as a passionate packaging professional keen on solving wicked healthcare problems to promote patient safety through microbiological quality, that is, ensuring packaging sterility.

“Anna, Dangkamol, and Kayla were selected as the top deserving candidates of my personal full-ride scholarship after going through a rigorous selection process,” he says.

His selection criteria included a resume and responses to short essay questions; for example, what do you hope to accomplish in the first five years of your career? What is your proudest success, and how do you measure it? 

After selecting the final candidates, he interviewed each top applicant via phone and used a weighted grading scale to assess each section and phase of the selection process.

the[PACK]out 2022 Recap from the[PACK]out on Vimeo.

Following the conference, Packaging Digest had the opportunity to interview each of the five students about their takeaways on …

• What did you think of the[PACK]out event?
• What was the most important thing you learned at the conference, and why was it important to you?
• How will this experience impact your career?
• What do you look forward to doing in your packaging career and why?
• What do you think is the significance of all the sponsored students being female?

Launch the slideshow to see their answers, along with fun photos from the event.

 

About the Author(s)

Kassandra Kania

Freelance Writer

Kassandra Kania is a freelance writer based in Charlotte, NC. She has written extensively about healthcare packaging for a variety of publications.

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