The Future Leaders in Packaging Scholarship from Packaging World and the PMMI Foundation was established in 2011 in conjunction with Leaders in Packaging—a print and online marketing program that enables suppliers to promote their innovations and expertise to the packaging community.
A portion of Leaders in Packaging revenue funds the $5000 Scholarship—awarded each year to an educational institution that prepares students for careers in packaging. Each recipient institution then selects a student or students to receive the funds to defray tuition and other education-related expenses in the next academic year. The 2020 scholarship was awarded to the University of Florida’s Packaging Engineering program, which is a true, multi-disciplinary engineering program, according to UF's Bruce A. Welt, Ph.D., Packaging Engineering Program Coordinator.
"UF engineering students may select packaging as an engineering certificate to supplement their core engineering degree. Packaging Engineering classes are taken by chemical, biological, mechanical, electrical/computer, materials and industrial engineering students," he says. "The packaging engineering program operates within UF’s Agricultural & Biological Engineering Department, where all faculty have earned doctorates in related engineering disciplines. By all measures and especially industry stakeholder feedback, UF Packaging Engineering graduates are very well received by employers. Our motto is “UF Packaging is Engineering!” Go Gators!"
The Packaging Engineering program is a specialization within the University of Florida's Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering. -PW
