Editorial Contact:
Kate Achelpohl
PMMI Director, Member Communications
Tel: 703.516.0671
E-mail: kachelpohl@pmmi.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PURDUE UNIVERSITY CALUMET WINS PMMI STUDENT DESIGN CONTEST
Second place goes to Rutgers team

Arlington, Va.; Oct. 14, 2009—Purdue University Calumet’s three-student team — Gautam Agarwal, Kenneth Beckett and George Dalka — received the top prize in the inaugural PMMI U Student Design Contest. The students, who learned of their accomplishment October 6, will share a $4,000 scholarship. The competition and awards announcement took place in conjunction with PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2009 (October 5–7, Las Vegas Convention Center).

The second-place team, from Rutgers University, received $2,000. Clemson University and Dunwoody College of Technology also participated in the contest.

“The PMMI U goal was to give packaging students hands-on experience where they would use Packexpo.com and the PACK EXPO event to research a packaging line solution,” says Jeff Bigger, president/owner, MASSMAN Automation Design, LLC, and chairman of PMMI’s Education & Workforce Development Committee. “All the teams were truly committed to the contest, and the solutions they presented were excellent, worthy of implementation at any leading consumer goods company.”

The contest challenged the students to address a palletizing need. The teams were provided “customer” specifications and were directed to find a solution that was fast and economical.

The teams researched their projects online at Packexpo.com and on site at PACK EXPO Las Vegas, and presented them to a panel of judges:

• Irshad Khan, manager, Automation Engineering; Solo Cup Company
• Bob Ruikkie, director of Service & Production; Delkor Systems, Inc.
• Frank Pellegrino, vice president, Machine Products; Intelligrated
• Earl Wohlrab, operations manager, Robot Integration; Intelligrated
• Randy Leinhauser, Sr. Equipment Engineer; Wyeth Pharmaceuticals

“Each of the teams worked hard and gained real-world experience,” Bigger says. “PMMI U looks forward to supporting these future leaders as they develop their careers and come back to PACK EXPO with actual packaging issues they need to address.”

The PMMI Education & Training Foundation provided the scholarship funds.

To learn more about PMMI U and PMMI’s Workforce Development efforts, contact Maria Ferrante, senior director, training and development, PMMI: mferrante@pmmi.org or 703.243.8555.

About PMMI
PMMI is a trade association with more than 530 member companies that manufacture packaging, processing and related converting machinery, commercially-available packaging machinery components, containers and materials in the United States and Canada. PMMI's vision is to be the leading global resource for packaging, and its mission is to improve and promote members' abilities to meet the needs of their customers.

PMMI organizes the PACK EXPO trade shows: PACK EXPO International, PACK EXPO Las Vegas and EXPO PACK México, connecting packaging and processing equipment and materials suppliers with their customers around the world. Coming in 2010: EXPO PACK México in Mexico City, June 22–25, and PACK EXPO International, Oct. 31–Nov. 3, at Chicago’s McCormick Place. PACK EXPO Las Vegas returns to the Las Vegas Convention Center Sept. 26–28, 2011.

Learn more about PMMI and the PACK EXPO trade shows at PMMI.org and Packexpo.com.