Packaging Engineering at Rutgers Continues Growth with Help from Rutgers PE Advisory Board

Nov. 18, 2013 - PRLog -- PISCATWAY, N.J. – Packaging Engineering at Rutgers University continues to grow with another major boost of support from companies represented on the Rutgers Packaging Engineering Advisory Board (RPEAB). Announced at an October 30th fundraising event attended by engineering students, faculty and packaging executives, the RPEAB raised $250,000 including scholarships for Packaging Engineering at the university – a $100,000 increase over last year’s amount.

Contributions raised by the Advisory Board are earmarked for curriculum development, faculty recruitment, research and development, and student scholarships and internships. This year, for example, Board member companies hired 25 students for summer internships and are planning for an additional 25 internships next year.

The third annual RPEAB fundraiser included presentations by School of Engineering Dean Thomas N. Farris and Professor Hae Chang Gea, director of the Rutgers Packaging Engineering Program. Under Professor Gea’s leadership, the program has grown from 63 students last year to more than 120 students this year. According to RPEAB Chair and Topline Products President Charles Chang, Rutgers hopes to enroll 150-200 students to study packaging next year.

Mr. Chang also mentioned other goals for Rutgers’ Packaging Engineering including its approval as a major, introduction of graduate level courses, establishing a career center for PE students and offering a Packaging Scholar Program for a one-year, full-time, training scholarship for a Packaging Engineering student to gain experience in the industry. “Our mission is to establish Rutgers’ Packaging Engineering as number one in the country,” said Mr. Chang.

The October 30th fundraising event was preceded by participating companies exhibiting their products and services to Rutgers students in attendance. Contributors included ACG, Albea, American Standard, Amway, Batallure, Bayer Healthcare, Colgate-Palmolive, Coty, Cultech, Estée Lauder, Gurwitch Products, Inter Parfums, Kraft Foods, L’Oréal, Mally, MFT, NW Actavis, Pepperidge Farms, and Topline Products.

For more information about Packaging Engineering at Rutgers, contact Professor Hae Chang Gea at 732.445.0108 or visit: http://soe.rutgers.edu/packaging.

For more information about the Rutgers Packaging Engineering Advisory Board, contact Charles Chang, President of Topline Products, at 973.785.1600.