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Contrary to what you may think after first hearing the title, Poly Pack is not a club about how to achieve six-pack abs. It is not simply a congregated pack of people who love Cal Poly either. Poly Pack is the official Packaging Club on Cal Poly’s campus.
Poly Pack Meetings:
- Where? Room 113 of the Business Building.
- When? Every other Thursday at 11AM.
- Why? To discuss upcoming events like quarterly industry tours, events, competitions and social events like BBQs, potlucks and mixers with other clubs.
“Sometimes we can even field a team for trivia nights Downtown and this quarter we even have got an intramural basketball team!” said Nakamura, Poly Pack President and a fifth year industrial technology major.
Packaging Events
Coming up on February 24, Poly Pack will be taking a trip to the Anheuser-Busch facility in Van Nuys, California. 30 students will participate in a full tour of their plant, including brewing operations and packaging.
“I am looking forward to seeing the expansiveness of the plant. It has one of the fastest bottling lines, which will be pretty neat to see,” said Paul Marchetti, Vice President of Poly Pack and a fourth year industrial technology major with a packaging minor.
Poly Pack has many other exciting events coming up in the spring of 2012 as well, including participation in the Poly Canyon Design Village competition in April and the annual Cal Poly Egg Drop Competition in May. Also, come June, Poly Pack will be helping the Packaging Department host the World Packaging conference at Cal Poly.
Poly Pack also participates annually in a Packaging Expoin which they learn more about the industry. The Expo is usually in Chicago or Las Vegas and it is the Club President’s favorite event that Poly Pack has participated in in the past.
“This Expo is a huge learning opportunity and showcase for every aspect of packaging in the world! From materials to machinery, any and all aspects of packaging!” said Nakamura.
This past September, Poly Pack took 36 students to the show in Las Vegas. The club participated in a competition against other colleges, such as Purdue University at Calumet and University of Florida- Gainesville, and placed second nationally. They also had the opportunity to set up their own booth to advertise and promote their program.
Inside the Box
As President of Poly Pack, Nakamura has the responsibility of coordinating events, such as the Packaging Expo, with his executive board members. His other obligations include reaching out to companies, managing the operations of the club, helping coordinate their executive board meetings and leading the meetings.
He ran for the position because he wanted not only a resume building experience and opportunity, he also wanted to see the club grow and to help take it to the next level.
“We have already done so much more than previous years and when we have so much more that we have planned. It’s very exciting!” said Nakamura.
According to Marchetti, he first chose to run for the executive board position of Vice President to get himself more involved in the club and help increase the availability of such opportunities to the students. He originally decided to join Poly Pack with the hope of learning more about the opportunities available to connect with the industry.
“It opens up a wide range of internships and scholarships due to the relationship with professional organizations such as the Institute of Packaging Professionals and the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry,” Marchetti said.
Lorraine Tang, a fourth year industrial technology major with a minor in packaging, sad she decided to join Poly Pack so that she could become more involved on campus. She wanted an experience where she could grow in leadership and in the subject of packaging.
“Becoming a member of the club creates more interaction between your peers and the faculty. It is also a great way to develop leadership skills and network with industries,” Tang said.
The club is comprised of 40 official members and about the same amount of unofficial members, according to Nakamura. Poly Pack is open to all majors but is dominated mostly by industrial technology, business, and graphic communication majors as it is most relevant to their fields.
Andrea Hodgson, Poly Pack’s Secretary and a third year graphic communication major minoring in packaging, said that what she loves most about being a member of Poly Pack is the fact that there are so many different aspects of packaging.
“There is the graphics side, which I'm into, the materials & technical side, food science, and business areas as well,” Hodgson said. “Poly Pack is a great place for anyone to learn more about packaging, become more involved, and learn about the industry from various professionals that come to speak at group meetings such as DOW Chemical, Heinz, and much more.” |
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