About Packaging Technology
Protecting, presenting, and moving products from line to shelf. Courses carry the PKG subject code and are offered through the College of Engineering & Technology. Numbers below 300 are introductory, 300–499 advanced undergraduate, and 500 and above graduate. Prerequisites are enforced at registration.
How the sequence works
Of the 9 PKG courses listed, 3 are introductory (numbers under 300), 1 is advanced undergraduate (300–499). 1 course has no prerequisite and is a reasonable first step. Later courses assume the earlier ones, so read prerequisites before you plan a term — they are enforced at registration and an override from the Packaging Technology department is the only way around them.
PKG 1500 — Introduction to Packaging 3 cr
Packaging functions, the distribution environment, common materials and formats, and the regulatory and sustainability context.
Prerequisite: none.
PKG 2200 — Packaging Materials 3 cr
Paper and board, glass, metal, and plastics for packaging; barrier properties; and matching a material to a product.
Prerequisite: CHEM 1050.
PKG 2500 — Package Design and Development 3 cr
The development process from brief to specification, structural design, and prototyping cartons and containers.
Prerequisite: PKG 1500.
PKG 3100 — Distribution Packaging and Testing 4 cr
Hazards of shipping — shock, vibration, compression, climate — and the standardized tests that qualify a package, run in the lab.
Prerequisite: PKG 2200.
PKG 3300 — Packaging Machinery and Line Integration 3 cr
Filling, sealing, labeling, and case packing equipment, line speed and efficiency, and changeover.
Prerequisite: PKG 2500.
PKG 3500 — Food and Pharmaceutical Packaging 3 cr
Shelf life, migration, tamper evidence, serialization, and the regulations specific to these products.
Prerequisite: PKG 2200.
PKG 3700 — Sustainable Packaging 3 cr
Source reduction, recyclability, compostability, recycled content, and defensible environmental claims.
Prerequisite: PKG 2200.
PKG 4100 — Packaging Project Management 3 cr
Running a packaging development project across functions, suppliers, and timelines.
Prerequisite: junior standing.
PKG 4900 — Senior Design 3 cr
A team develops and validates a packaging solution for a sponsor against distribution, cost, and sustainability targets.
Prerequisite: senior standing.
Planning and advising
Your degree audit shows exactly how PKG courses apply to your requirements; this list only shows what is offered. If you are choosing between two courses, deciding when to take a heavy one, or wondering whether a course will run next term, your academic adviser or the Packaging Technology program office can tell you. Course availability by term is set close to registration and is not guaranteed by anything on this page.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. Every course, prerequisite, credit value, and department on this page is invented; nothing here describes a real curriculum or a course you can enroll in.