Are you curious about careers in science?

Hi, I'm Genesis, and today I'm here with Camille Corr Chism.

Camille, can you tell me where we are and what you do?

I'm a package engineer, and we are at the School of Packaging at Michigan State University.

What exactly does a packaging engineer do?

Packaging engineers do a lot of things.

We basically are looking at whatever the product is.

How does it need to get shipped and delivered to the consumer?

In here we take various materials that we use in packaging and we test them for strength, durability just to make sure they're not defective.

What kind of testing is done to ensure products are safe?

That's a great question, Genesis.

A lot of tests are done to ensure products are safe, but it depends on the product.

The weight of this dart will drop down to see what it takes to pierce this plastic.

Yes.

Do I get to do the honors?

Yes.

Go for it.

Wow.

That went straight through.

It did.

So when you look at material properties, you have to understand exactly what you're trying to protect from.

This is a tensile tester.

In packaging, we use this to understand how much stress this material can take before it breaks apart.

Wow.

That's so cool.

If you have a product that sensitive to say, vibration or shock, you will have tests that will simulate it vibrating on a truck or on a train.

If you're on a plane now, you're looking at the changes in pressure.

So there are a lot of different tests that you can do.

Why are you so passionate about your career?

I'm really passionate about packaging because first and foremost, I like to learn how things work.

I think I did it.

Packaging is like a puzzle.

You're putting so many things together.

Guys, I kind of know what I'm doing.

And to make them all come together in a package is great.

Camille Corr Chism showed me that art and engineering are a package deal.

Explore your possibilities.