Rutgers logo
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Rutgers logo
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Rutgers logo
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Rutgers logo
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
A male student works with industrial equipment that has controls and other mechanics.

Packaging Engineering Undergraduate Program

Navigate to

What is Packaging Engineering

On supermarket shelves, in toy stores, drugstores and in warehouses, most people are interested in the products available and not so much in their containers. But packaging is more than just a pretty bottle. When the need arrives, companies look to engineers and packaging professional to collaborate with company research and development, marketing, manufacturing, supply chain, transportation, legal, and graphic design colleagues to create safe, sustainable, and innovative packaging for a broad range of products.

Program Overview

Packaging engineering is a multi-disciplinary field within the Applied Sciences in Engineering major, and it draws on chemical, industrial, materials, and mechanical engineering in order to design and create boxes, cartons, bottles, and other packing materials that meet specific criteria. Rutgers offers the nation’s only packaging program in the nation housed in an engineering school. 

White, female college student poses in a lab. She is smiling broadly wearing a black short sleeve shirt. She has black curly hair.

Coursework

Rutgers students who enroll in the Packaging Engineering option in Applied Sciences follow the specific Packaging Engineering curriculum, which includes courses in mathematics, chemistry, physics, thermodynamics, computers and business. Students in any major who complete certain coursework may earn a certificate in Packaging Engineering.

Explore the Curriculum
Testing equipment for packaging engineering.

Hands-on Experience

Many of our students gain hands-on business and engineering experience through internships and co-op programs, where they can earn up to six degree credits for work experience in an industrial environment and make valuable networking connections. They are often offered full-time positions after graduation.

Male Asian student wearing a white sweater and black glasses stands in front of an industrial refrigerator that holds various packaged items. He his holding a jar.

Student News