PKSC 2020: Packaging Materials and Manufacturing

In PKSC 2020, known as Packaging Materials and Manufacturing, this course covers the study of packaging materials including glass, metal, metal foils and sheets, wood, paper, paperboard, adhesives, composites, plastics, coatings, and cushioning media. This course covers an extensive amount of materials including their functional properties in packaging applications, laminations and the combining of different packaging materials. In this class, we learn about each of the strengths and weaknesses of different packaging materials as well as why certain materials are better for certain packaging design situations. I took this course the semester after taking 1020 and to me was the true beginning of getting into the specifics and details on the industry starting with the materials first. Having transferred from bio-engineering with a materials emphasis, I quite enjoyed the shift to learning about packaging materials rather than the chemical and molecular nature of materials as discussed in previous materials courses. With this class, I was able to learn something in lecture and see that same very same thing being used in the grocery store that same day. For me, I quite enjoyed being able to study something that I could see and feel with my own hands and understand the science behind it.