A longtime supporter of local business and education, Merrill’s continues to open doors for the next generation through hands-on exposure and training. 

Merrill’s Packaging was proud to welcome students from San Jose State University for an immersive learning session led by Ellen Lee from Stryker Corporation.  Ellen hosted a class session at our facility for an inside look at how medical device packaging comes to life.  

Building on the success of previous visits, this session focused on Thermoforming 101, a hands-on introduction to a core process in medical packaging. Merrill’s Bill Kilbridge, Senior Packaging Engineer, and Neeraj Choudhary, VP Operations Transformation,  led interactive breakout sessions, guiding students through each step of the thermoforming process and showcasing how design meets function in real-world applications.

To kick off the experience, students enjoyed a short animated video on thermoforming, followed by a slide presentation highlighting Merrill’s Packaging and our parent company, Nelipak Healthcare Packaging. 

The session concluded with a guided tour of our Burlingame facility, where the next generation of packaging professionals had the chance to see our operations up close and ask questions about materials, machinery, and career paths in healthcare packaging.

At Merrill’s, we’re passionate about supporting education and sharing our technical expertise with students and emerging engineers. These visits help raise awareness of the critical role packaging plays in patient safety and help us stay connected with the next generation of packaging professionals shaping the industry’s future.