Virginia Tech® home

Industrial Affiliate Membership

Industrial Affiliate Membership

Be part of the development of a new era of unit load & packaging design!

Group meeting of business people

members

Our Industrial Affiliate Membership is an opportunity for leading pallet and packaging companies to work with researchers at Virginia Tech to advance the field of pallet and distribution packaging through systems based unit load design, find talented employees and network with world leading reseachers and industry professionals.

 

Benefits of Membership:

 

Networking Opportunities with Potential Customers

As part of your membership, you will also be invited to our Annual Membership Meeting and Packaging Summit which provides a great opportunity to network with potential customers and collaborators. These events also offer great opportunities for our world-class researchers to identify industry-wide problems and propose solutions that will provide competitive advantages for our members. Our graduate and undergraduate students will also be at the meeting presenting the results of their industry sponsored research.

Access New State-of-the-Art Knowledge Before the General Public

Being affiliated with our Center is invaluable because your company can be part of the select few who will receive the latest information on how to improve the efficiency of package design which will save you money and give you a competitive advantage over your competitors. Our goal is to build a lifelong mutually beneficial relationship and grow together with our members. Starting this year, our Center is expanding the scope of systems-based packaging design thanks to new faculty members associated with the Center.

Research Activities Conducted by the Center are Driven by the Needs of Our Members

The Center focuses on the development of new knowledge and technologies to improve the efficiency of packaging systems. During this process, we work closely with our members, through our executive board, to determine research areas which have the potential to provide competitive advantages to all of our members as well as improve life in the Commonwealth. All of our members have voting rights, based on their level of membership, and they all help to decide on which projects, initially proposed by the faculty, will be implemented.

Promotion of Your Business on Our Website

Packaging professionals throughout the world are visiting our website for information on pallets and unit load solutions. Members of the Center receive either standard or premium promotion on our website and inclusion in our searchable database which will put you in front of potential customers.

Priority Access to Highly Trained Graduates

Getting the right people to create value for your company can be hit or miss. To make the selection of high caliber employees easier, we are providing special assistance to our members in regards to student recruitment including job fairs, online database of our graduates, and personalized interview sessions.

Learn Solutions to Real-Life Problems

All of our members have the chance to submit one real life problem. Our faculty will select a problem, and then our best students will work to solve them. At the end, the results will be given to our members. This provides great opportunities for our members to test the knowledge of potential hires, and learn about solutions for existing issues in the packaging industry.

Discounts on Contract Testing and Consultations

Being a member of the Center, you will receive significant discounts on our testing and consultation services, depending on the level of your membership. Look at the expanding membership benefits below for more details on the discounts available at each level of membership.

Access to Searchable Library of Integrated Center Knowledge

We have learned a lot since the Center was established. Now, we would like to share this knowledge with all of our members. SLICK is a searchable library of all the knowledge which has been generated by the Center during our 40+ years of operation. Most of the information in SLICK was never published to the general public, and accessing it could give a competitive advantage to your company.

Membership Benefits: Bronze
$5,500
Silver
$11,000
Gold
$27,500
Promotion on our website
Inclusion in our searchable company database
Special assistance with student recruitment
Access to SLICK
Priority and discounted registration (50%) for professional seminars and open-to-the-public short courses
Participation in the governance of student trainee programs
Priority access to the center's technical assistance team and testing services
Networking opportunities within CPULD and VT
Access to early stage, patentable concepts and confidential research information prior to public disclosure
Participation in the annual membership meeting
Discounts on testing services
Premium promotion on our website  
Participation in CPULD's executive board  
(4 hours) One-on-one consultation with the staff of CPULD  
Undergraduate scholarship under the name of the member    
Graduate fellowship under the name of the member    

Contact us to discuss membership:

 

Laszlo Horvath

placeholder

Dr. Laszlo Horvath

Director and Associate Professor

lhorvat@vt.edu | 540-231-7673