2021 has been somewhat of a ‘getting back to normal’ year, coming off of a mostly virtual 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With safety precautions in place, we were excited to be able to offer more in-person classes and events over the course of 2021, culminating in an almost-normal, fall semester. While the spring was mostly hybrid, we saw great success with our online efforts. Check out the numbers below!
At the beginning of 2021, the Sonoco Institute held a series of online courses for the printing and packaging industry.
To date, 67 industry professionals have taken Intro to Flexo Online, our most popular virtual course, with 56 of those during the 2021 calendar year.
“We were especially excited to work with companies like PPC and First Quality this year to offer group training for their employees across multiple plants,” commented Bobby Congdon, Sonoco Institute assistant director.
Overall, the Institute hosted more than 100 industry trainees through a series of 10 online and in-person courses.
In addition to the ongoing, self-paced online courses, eight training classes are currently open for registration at Clemson University’s Sonoco Institute. One of the eight in-person courses is a brand-new event for the packaging industry, a Recycling 101 Seminar. Click here to preview the Institute’s spring 2022 training events.
The Institute’s training experts also offer consulting services and customized training resources. Click here to learn more about these services.
Additional sponsors and educators joined on to support and test the Sonoco Institute’s VR platform, known as STRIPE, this year. All Printing Resources, Inc. is STRIPE VR’s newest sponsor joining FTA, Harper Corporation, Anderson & Vreeland and Poteet Printing Systems (read more). Nearly 20 new educators from across the country have joined on to test the online version of STRIPE as it developed throughout the year.
The institute’s VR team, led by Nate Newsome, worked hard in 2021 to design a central impression flexo press to accompany the in-line, narrow-web flexo press currently utilized in STRIPE VR and STRIPE Online. The expansion allows more users to train in their specific segment of the field.
Click here to learn more about the Institute’s virtual print training opportunities.
At the beginning of 2021, our Advanced Print Lab team primarily ran virtual print trials as a new offering for those restricted on travel due to COVID-19. As the year progressed, they were able to host more companies in-person. Out of the 52 weeks this year, five were reserved for industry training courses. An additional 33 independent trials were run. 25 of those were from companies in the printing and packaging industry, and eight were for student projects.
Around 275 Clemson University students were hosted at the Institute this year through undergraduate and graduate-level courses, creative inquiry projects and various special topics courses. The students were primarily from the Graphic Communications and Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciences departments.
11 Clemson students were hired on this year to work in the Institute’s advanced prototyping and print labs.
Packaging Science professor, Dr. Andrew Hurley, hosted 24 high school students from across the country at the Sonoco Institute over the summer for PackCamp.
Several student teams won awards this year after completing projects in the institute’s labs.
Click here to follow the Sonoco Institute’s blog for more student updates and project showcases throughout 2022.
The Sonoco FRESH initiative held its inaugural Food, Packaging & Sustainability Summit online on February 24-26. 122 companies attended virtually. Click here to preview the sessions from this year’s event. The next Summit will take place at Clemson University on March 2-4, 2022. Click here to learn more.
The FRESH initiative also awarded two research grants to three Clemson professors tackling topics related to the safety, security and sustainability of the food value chain. Click here to read more.
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