Saica Pack design intern scoops double at Student Starpack Awards

A student currently undertaking an internship at Saica Pack Wigan has scooped two awards at the prestigious student Starpack Awards

Lucy Atkinson, a Product Design student at the University of Leeds is currently undertaking her one-year placement with the Design department at Saica Pack Wigan as part of her degree course. Her entry, which gained much praise from the judges, earned her a Gold award and The Sponsors Award from Smurfit Kappa.

Established in 1964, the Starpack Students competition challenges students from a wide range of courses ranging from graphics to structural or product design, materials or technology, to submit solutions to problems set by brand-leading FMCG companies, design agencies, and manufacturers. The expectation is that students really challenge conventional thinking and break the rules with off-the-wall creativity.

The competition aims to excite the next generation into thinking of packaging as a career, and gives students a great opportunity to showcase their great ideas and solutions directly to an industry looking for rising stars.

The brief Lucy responded to was to provide an innovative and creative solution for the promotion and display of Walkers Max Strong 150g sharing bags. Intended to appeal to beer lovers and aimed at social sharing occasions, Walkers Max Strong is a range of ridged crisps in bold spicy flavours. The display needed to promote and drive sales of the product. 

The judges were very impressed by Lucy’s entry, praising the quality of her development boards and excellent knowledge of corrugated packaging that can easily translate into 3D POS design. They said her entry showed “a clear path from research through to concept design” and that the quality of her printed final sample was outstanding.

Robert Chapman, Design Manager, Saica Pack UK, commented: “We are absolutely thrilled for Lucy, who has become a real asset to us during her placement year. This competition is a great way to challenge the creativity of young people at the outset of their careers and Lucy has done a brilliant job applying what she has learned on her course and with us, and using that knowledge to support her own creativity and innovation.

“Lucy is the third design intern we have had from the University of Leeds and it is always such a positive experience, not just for them, but also for us because of the fresh insight and thinking they bring to the workplace.”

Lucy Atkinson said: ““I found it very rewarding applying knowledge and skills acquired from my placement along with those from my university degree to this design brief and am thrilled to have come out with these awards! I have really enjoyed the placement with Saica as it has allowed me to develop real world, technical design skills and insights within a fast-paced environment with the support of the Wigan design team behind me.”

About Saica Group

Saica Group is one of the leading companies in Europe in the manufacture of recycled paper for corrugated board, with an annual production capacity of 3.3 million tons of recycled paper for corrugated board. With more than 10,000 employees and a presence in Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Turkey, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United States, Saica Group has four business lines: manufacture of recycled paper for corrugated board (Saica Paper), waste management and environmental services (Saica Natur), production of corrugated board packaging (Saica Pack) and flexible packaging (Saica Flex). The group's turnover is €3,598 million, consolidated turnover at Dec. 31, 2021).