Charles Chang Receives ‘Dean’s Award for Service’ from Rutgers University

WAYNE, N.J. - Oct. 17, 2014 - PRLog -- The Rutgers School of Engineering presented the ‘Dean’s Award for Service’ to Charles Chang, Topline president, at the school’s annual ‘Medal of Excellence’ event honoring distinguished Rutgers University School of Engineering alumni.

The ‘Dean’s Award for Service’ is given to a School of Engineering alumnus who, through personal commitment and dedication, has contributed to strengthening the school and its programs. Dean Tom Farris, who presented the award, remarked, “Charles is a champion of Rutgers Engineering and a tremendous contributor to the school’s Packaging Engineering program, helping to build it into more than just a concentration, but one of the only packaging programs in the nation housed within an engineering school.”

In accepting his award, Mr. Chang noted that, five years ago, he first spoke with Dean Farris about revitalizing Packaging Engineering at Rutgers and how it has grown to 150 students this year under the leadership of Professor Hae Chang Gea. The program has also established student internships and co-op opportunities with leading packaging companies, as well as a Packaging Scholar program and programs leading to graduate degrees. In the 2015 spring semester, it will join forces with the Business School to offer MBA/MS degrees in Packaging Engineering and Supply Chain Management. These efforts are supported by the Rutgers Packaging Engineering Advisory Board (RPEAB), a group of key industry decision makers with Mr. Chang as chairman. The Board raises money for Rutgers Packaging Engineering each year at the Packaging Career Night and Fundraising Dinner.

Closing his remarks, Mr. Chang asked, “So what’s in store for Packaging Engineering at Rutgers? In three years, we will see it as a premier packaging program in the United States. It will also be a model for all packaging programs in the world!”

Mr. Chang arrived in America 43 years ago from Taiwan as an international graduate student at the University of Mississippi where he earned his master’s degree in chemical engineering. He then came to Rutgers where he earned a master’s degree in packaging science and engineering. Besides his chairmanship of the RPEAB, he is a member of the School of Engineering Industry Advisory Board and a member of the Board of Overseers at the Rutgers Foundation.

For more information about the Rutgers Packaging Engineering Advisory Board, contact Charles Chang, president of Topline Products, at 973-785-1600. For more information about Packaging Engineering at Rutgers, contact Professor Hae Chang Gea at 732-445-0108 or visit the school's Website at: soe.rutgers.edu/packaging.