Associate Spotlight: Josephine Allakpo
Learn more about Josephine Allakpo, Principal Packaging Engineer, and her experience as part of the Research & Development Team.
Q. Can you tell us a little about your role at PDI?
Allakpo: I am a Principal Packaging Engineer with the R&D Packaging and Advanced Engineering Team. My role at PDI is to ensure our product packaging is adequately designed and evaluated, suitable to effectively produce, store, and safely distribute to the end user, and ensure the product remains functional and effective during use.
Q. What new skills have you learned while working at PDI? How have you developed personally and professionally?
Allakpo: I have grown so much professionally since I started working at Nice-Pak Products / PDI in 2008 as a contractor, and I am still learning new skills as a Principal Packaging Engineer. I am a trained Civil Engineer and everything I have learned about packaging is through interacting with colleagues, supervisors, suppliers, customers, and other departments.
Q. Are there any unique / exciting projects you have been able to work on while at PDI?
Allakpo: I have worked on a few exciting projects while at PDI, Including our Dual Access Lid for canisters, Profend® swabs (our nasal decolonization product), and the hand tab for Prevantics® device swab strip. It’s exciting because we get to convert customer feedback into innovative packaging that enhances user experience.
Q. Can you provide some insights on your team dynamics / working relationships with colleagues?
Allakpo: My team is made up of different highly skilled talents of the same discipline (Packaging Engineering). There’s always an expert in the team for specific challenges, and we work together to bring solutions to challenging problems.
Q. What is your favorite memory from working at PDI?
Allakpo: My favorite memory from working at PDI is the excitement I felt when we finally move to our headquarters to Woodcliff Lake (WCL), NJ. Research & Development (R&D) had moved from Orangeburg to Valley Cottage (NY), and then to Montvale before WCL, so it was nice to be finally ‘home’.
Q. How long have you been with PDI and why have you decided to stay with the company?
Allakpo: I’ve been with PDI for approximately 6 years, and almost 7 years at Nice-Pak Products prior to that, with about a year and half break in between. PDI feels like home to me because my employment here was my first skilled job as an immigrant, I feel appreciated for my efforts, and I want to give back to the hands that “feed me”.
Q. How has the company evolved since you joined?
Allakpo: As R&D moved locations, I saw an evolution in talent, capability, product offering, and in our DE&I (Diversity Equity & inclusion) culture.