| About |
| |
| Rutgers University was the first school in the country to offer packaging within the School of Engineering. Founded in 1965, it is the second oldest Packaging program nationally. The program has graduated many students that have gone on to work for Fortune 500 companies as well as start their own businesses. The Rutgers packaging program provides a solid engineering background that allows students to receive job placement in any desired packaging field upon graduation. |
| |
| The packaging engineering option in the Applied Sciences in Engineering curriculum is a program designed to prepare scientists and engineers for a major role in the complex and challenging field of packaging: The successful transport and delivery of a product from the manufacturer to the consumer. The package must deliver a damage-free product, through a rigorous distribution environment, to the marketplace. At retail, the package becomes a “silent salesman”; it attracts the customer’s attention as well as illustrates the benefits of the product. Once purchased, the package must also demonstrate ease of use. |
| |
| In today’s modern world, nearly 100% of all products seen at retail are packaged. The manufacture of packaged goods is a multi-billion dollar business and represents a major component of both the New Jersey and US economies. |
| |
| The success of every package demands the skills of a multi-disciplinary technical specialist – the packaging engineer. Packaging Engineering is a broad field that draws heavily on chemical, mechanical, materials and industrial engineering. A strong background in mathematics, chemistry and computers is necessary as well. |
| |
| Rutgers is the only university that offers an engineering-based curriculum in packaging. The first two years include courses that are common to all engineering programs plus two courses that introduce packaging engineering. In the junior and senior years, students will take courses in packaging materials, packaging distribution, package manufacturing, packaging evaluation, packaging machinery, packaging regulation and package design and development. In addition, packaging engineering students will also have the opportunity to learn about the industry through many internship and co-op opportunities. Graduates of the packaging engineering program at Rutgers are in high demand by industry throughout the US. |
| |
| The packaging program participates in the School of Engineering’s James J. Slade Scholars Program, which attracts qualified students from either option (see the Programs of Study chapter for further information). Highly qualified students may also elect to commence work toward the MS or Ph.D. degree in the senior year of the undergraduate curriculum. |
