UW-Stout Plastics Engineering Brochure

THE FUTURE IS IN PLASTICS.

PLASTICS ARE ALL AROUND US Plastics are used in a multitude of applications including: consumer packaging, automotive parts, drinking water purification, and advanced medicines and medical devices to name a few. Every day, plastics add comfort, convenience, and safety to our lives and our world in many ways that we take for granted. Advances in plastics for packaging have helped protect and preserve goods while reducing weight in transportation, which saves fuel and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. From defibrillators and automotive interiors to aerospace components and recreational vehicles/gears, durable, lightweight and affordable plastics have transformed our lives. PLASTICS IMPROVE OUR LIVES BY: • Advancing medical devices like implants or prosthetics, and bioplastics for regenerative medicine • Developing lightweight automotive components, making vehicles more fuel-efficient • Manufacturing new construction materials like plastic spray insulation to reduce energy usage in homes • Researching new plastics materials to make clothing, packaging and sporting equipment more durable “I chose to attend UW-Stout because it has an amazing plastics engineering lab and a polytechnic approach. I really like doing hands-on activities, and I learn the most when I’m in the lab. Every plastics engineering class has a lab component, which forces you to actually use the equipment and practice technical writing with lab reports. Those were most important for me because I wanted to learn something that could be applied in my career.” LARYSSA MEYER UW-Stout Plastics Engineering student