ISU professor first academic in world to earn top packaging certification

An Indiana State University professor is the tenth person in the world and the first academic to receive professional certification from the International Safe Transit Association (ISTA).

Marion Schafer, associate professor of packaging and director of the Indiana Packaging Research & Development Center at ISU, completed the Certified Packaging Laboratory Professional program and received the highest status through ISTA.

To receive the professional-level certification, candidates must pass written exams which earn them credentials as both a Certified Packaging Laboratory Professional Technician and Technologist; and then submit their resume for review.

“We look for evidence of significant knowledge of and participation in the industry,” said Bill Kipp, executive associate director of ISTA, “such as education, employment, industry activities, honors and awards.”

Emphasis also is placed on contributions to the field of packaging through speaking, writing and teaching, he added.

“Schafer’s resume easily exceeded the minimum score,” Kipp said.

“This is indeed a great honor for me to receive this award from my peers,” Schafer said. “I have long been involved with ISTA and testing packaging systems for industry using ISTA test procedures.”

Schafer says he emphasizes to his packaging students the importance of testing to assure that their package designs will properly protect the product throughout the distribution chain.

Through the Indiana Packaging Research & Development Center at ISU, Schafer connects packaging technology students with businesses seeking packaging design, testing and troubleshooting.

“At the center, my students have worked with companies such as Biomet in Warsaw; Columbus Container; and Pfizer, Sony-DADC and Bemis in Terre Haute,” he said.

Schafer has been with the College of Technology at Indiana State since 1997, teaching a variety of packaging courses, selecting the faculty and packaging curriculum, and directing all laboratory testing and research for the Packaging Center. Schafer has served as an expert witness in approximately 30 legal cases involving transport packaging. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees, as well as his Ph.D., from Indiana State.

ISTA recognized Schafer’s achievement at its International Forum held in March at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Florida.

ABOUT ISTA

ISTA is a national packaging organization with headquarters in East Lansing, Mich. Its goals are to provide information and tools to make packaging jobs easier, help design packaging to provide protection, and give insight and technology to help lower the cost of distribution.

-30-

Photo: (Download high-resolution photo)

Marion Schafer

Contact: Marion Schafer, associate professor of packaging and director of the Indiana Packaging Research & Development Center, Indiana State University, (812) 237-3352 or mschafer@isugw.indstate.edu

Writer: Katie Spanuello, media relations assistant director, Indiana State University, (812) 237-3790 or kspanuello@isugw.indstate.edu