Alumni Spotlight: Alina Mejias Rojas

Alina Mejias Rojas came to the Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design from the Costa Rica Institute of Technology. She grew up in San Carlos, Costa Rica, and started an internship with CPULD in fall 2016 as part of her undergraduate program. The project she took on to complete her degree was to help organize and streamline CPULD’s labs. Alina told us that she “became part of the Hokie family due to an internship where I performed a Lean manufacturing project, which was a requirement to graduate as an industrial engineer.”

After interning for a semester with CPULD, Alina was hooked on being a Hokie. She said that her interest in packaging was sparked during her internship. “After being exposed to packaging science, I was interested in learning more about it due to the fact that it is the third largest industry in the world and it is a field that I had never been exposed to back in Costa Rica. The Virginia Tech graduate program focused on packaging efficiency, packaging distribution throughout the supply chain, and sustainable packaging — all of which captured my attention. By fall 2017, I had started my graduate program.”

Alina expounded on her choice of CPULD. “I chose packaging science because as an industrial engineer my focus had been on what happens between the inputs and outputs of the manufacturing process. Packaging involves the processes that will allow the final product to reach the customer efficiently. Furthermore, packaging captured my attention due to the sustainability impact that reusable packages, packaging design, and pallet science can have on the world through all of the supply chains.”

In addition to the normal stresses of graduate school, Alina had to deal with being an international student and leaving her support system in Costa Rica. “When I decided to start this journey, I knew it was going to be lonely, since I had to leave all my family and friends back home. Fortunately, I had the support of my now husband and along the way I had the luck to share classes and work with exceptional people who later became like family. Being from a different country, I was not totally certain about what my future would be after graduation. Therefore, during my school years, I selected the classes that exposed me to the topics I was the most passionate about, and, to me, this is the best feature the Department of Sustainable Biomaterials has for graduate students.”

“Studying in the packaging program at Virginia Tech opened many doors for me,” she continued. “I was able to work firsthand with professionals from diverse fields. I had the opportunity to go to conferences and on field trips where I experienced real-time operations. My Virginia Tech education helped to open my horizons; the job fairs exposed me to a great variety of companies looking for candidates from all fields. Some people might consider this as the norm, but for me, being able to select from such an upstanding list of companies was a luxury. My most interesting class was one taught by Dr. Laszlo Horvath in which I learned the importance of pallets and the different criteria you can apply in order to ensure high performance in different supply chains.”

Alina identified the three major lessons from her time with CPULD as proactivity, teamwork, and the Virginia Tech motto of Ut Prosim (That I May Serve). She describes “proactivity as always striving to do your best and be one step ahead — to not only identify the problem but what causes it and all possible solutions.”

She went on to explain how she learned about teamwork. “Being a laboratory manager allowed me to interact with a variety of people from different backgrounds and of different generations, genders, and levels of motivation. It was without a doubt one of the most enriching activities for me because, despite all the differences, I needed to guide my team to successfully complete specific activities in a timely manner. This allowed me to put into practice what I had read one day a long time ago: A leader is the person who knows how to optimize others’ performance by using each individuals’ skills.”

“Ut Prosim — That I May Serve,” Alina continued. “I apply this in every aspect of my life. It is too easy to expect things to get done by someone else, but the reality is that they might never get done if you leave it up to someone else. So grab it and do it. From helping your neighbor to inspiring young adults ... that I may serve.”

Alina wants future students to know that becoming a part of CPULD is a multi-field experience. She had the opportunity to take classes with the best professors as well as work and learn about the packaging industry in a hands-on environment. She also got to interact with real customers, working towards their specific requests and timelines. And Alina managed up to 10 technicians, “which allowed me to collect managerial work experience while earning my master’s degree.” 

“I would like to tell future students to keep your minds open, buckle up, and enjoy the ride,” she added. “Being part of CPULD will develop many different skills that you will end up using once you graduate. These skills and experiences truly upgrade your resume and open many different job opportunities. Additionally, there is a packaging alumni group that you can be part of after graduation.”

Alina is one of the many CPULD students who had a job lined up before graduation — in her case, with Alstom, a train manufacturing company. She is working at the French-owned corporation’s manufacturing facility in Hornell, New York, as a supplier product quality development engineer. “My general responsibility is to manage the suppliers that manufacture specific electrical parts according to the technical specifications. We are currently building the first high-speed train in the United States, and I am so grateful and proud to have been chosen to be part of it. My position allows me to work on a daily basis in conjunction with most of the departments in the company, such as engineering, sourcing, industrial, logistics, and supply chain, in addition to the supplier in order to achieve a good delivery. Our target is to have the parts ‘delivered right the first time, on time.’”

As with the rest of the world, COVID-19 has narrowed Alina’s social life. However, she said it has given her time to prepare her graduate research for publication as an article that will summarize her findings. She will soon add “published author” to her CV with “How Pallets Affect the Performance of Semi-Automatic and Fully Automatic Warehouses.”

Additionally, with the collaboration of her friends, Alina has been developing an Instagram page called “Ella Ingeniera” that will benefit woman in engineering. “We are creating this page to share our knowledge on how to strive and succeed in engineering school and how to adapt to different environments, especially for students looking to excel in a different country, and we will provide tips on how to transition from a student life to a professional one.” Ella Ingeniera will be released to the public in January 2021.

During her time here, Alina performed work as an industrial engineering intern, a global pallet researcher, and a laboratory manager in addition to being a full-time graduate student. She excelled at all positions and was a constantly friendly presence at CPULD. All of this contributed to her winning the Department of Sustainable Biomaterials 2020 H.E. Burkhart Outstanding Master’s Student Award.