PMMI takes packaging students on educational tour
The “How It’s Packaged Summer Tour,” taking place June 23-28, is leading a select group of packaging students and professors through facilities in the Chicago and Milwaukee areas. The tour participants will meet manufacturers and processors, learn about their operations, and ask questions to gain perspective on the processing and manufacturing industry.
Hands-on education
According to Maria Ferrante, vice president of education and workforce development for PMMI, the tour program was designed to give students pursuing packaging careers a up-close view of actual workplace conditions.
“These students are really going to get some great insight into what their future holds,” she said.
The students on the tour are recipients of the PMMI’s Future Leader Award. The program recognizes pre-professional undergraduate students attending one of PMMI’s partner schools with a record of outstanding academic performance, and who is interested in a future career in packaging or processing.
Likewise, the professors have been bestowed with Outstanding Educator Award honors. The award recognizes professors showing a passion for and dedication to fostering students looking to work in packaging and processing.
Future of the industry
Timm Johnson, vice president of sales and marketing at Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery Inc. and chair of PMMI’s educated and workforce development committee, says the tour is intended to encourage a group of people dedicated to furthering the packaging and processing business.
“These kids really are the next generation of leaders in our industry and this is a great example of the things that PMMI does to get the them excited about what packaging and processing have to offer,” he said.
The 2013 Future Leaders Award winners are:
- Derek Pincus, CalPoly
- Michael Grandinetti, University of Florida
- Alan Belcher, Clemson University
- Timothy Dehm, Rochester Institute of Technology
- Anthony Disanto, University of Wisconsin – STOUT
The 2013 Outstanding Educator Award recipients are:
- Felix Barron, Clemson University
- Robert Meisner, University of Wisconsin – STOUT
For more information about the Future Leaders and Outstanding Educator program, visit the PMMI website.
