Congratulations to Florin Mustata! Florin, an MS Technology student from PUC’s School of Technology, helped lead his team to victory in the Amazing Packaging Race at PACK EXPO on October 31, 2012.
The Amazing Packaging Race is a scavenger hunt-style competition, conducted at PACK EXPO International 2012, in which teams of students from colleges across the country race to gather points by completing tasks at specific PACK EXPO booths. PACK EXPO International 2012, was a four-day event held in Chicago from October 28-31. This is the largest packaging and processing trade show in the world this year. It covered more than 1.1 million net square feet in McCormick Place with 1,965 exhibiting companies and over 67,000 attendees.
On the last day of the expo, college students from across the country gathered to participate in the Amazing Packaging Race. This event consists of students who are randomly split into teams of four participants (each participant from a different school), then each team is tasked with problems that they must solve as they find and visit various exhibitors throughout the expo over a five-hour timeframe.
Florin Mustata prepared for the event by visiting the expo with other PUC students in the days leading up to the competition. His preparation paid off as he helped his team attain victory and win the competition. Each member of the winning team received the latest iPad and a monetary scholarship award.
“The competition was not easy,” Florin said. “It was difficult to complete the tasks within a given limited amount of time. In addition, being a part of a team with students from different schools and performing together was also challenging.”
“I was prepared with the knowledge from the mechatronics engineering technology program to complete the tasks I was asked to perform at different booths in the exposition. The equipment we use in the Purdue Calumet mechatronics labs are the latest and are also being used in the automation & controls industry. Knowledge on the functionalities of these components was definitely advantageous for me in order to win this competition.”
