Packaging science student wins Visual Packaging Manufacturers scholarship

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A. Sue Weisler

Tim Dehm, a fourth-year packaging science student, was awarded a scholarship from the Association of Visual Packaging Manufacturers. The award was announced at the recent Pack Expo, one of the industry’s largest national conferences and trade shows.

What happened to Tim Dehm in Vegas won’t stay in Vegas.

The fourth-year packaging science student from RIT brought home a $2,500 scholarship from this year’s Pack Expo and Conference, an annual industry event that took place on Sept. 26–28 in Las Vegas. The scholarship, given by the Association of Visual Packaging Manufacturers, is awarded based on the student’s essay about current challenges in the packaging field and possible solutions.

In his essay, Dehm noted that communication between the interconnected sections of the business—marketing, the supply chain, manufacturing and distribution, for example—is essential and “the key to solving this problem is to have well-educated packaging engineers who can help the different branches of the business work together more fluidly.”

Dehm, who grew up in Geneseo, Livingston County, completed a co-op with Unilever last winter and spring semesters. After graduation, he expects to use his experiences in packaging as a way to help people—most likely in fields like food preservation and geriatrics, he adds.

Pack Expo is one of the packaging industry’s largest national conferences and trade shows. It brings together professionals from industry and academia, as well as students in university packaging programs, to participate in design challenges and learn about the latest trends in the business. Fifteen RIT students attended this year’s event, along with faculty from the program.

“It’s great that industry professionals are willing to offer scholarships to students and show their support,” says Dehm. “It was also a great opportunity to meet members of the association and have their support behind me as I look for co-ops and jobs after graduation.”