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My name is Dorotea, check out the top of the page! I had a dream years ago of becoming a structural packaging designer and after a bachelors in Print Technology Management with a concentration in packaging, being the first Canadian to win the PPA Student Design Challenge and two years designing sustainable solutions for one of the biggest players in the game. One could say I've achieved that dream.
Yet I am more. I am an educator. I am a researcher. I am an explorer of new technologies and mediums. I am multicultural to the core. (Born in Canada, raised in China, proudly Czech and Serbian, and I speak all those languages too.) I am a web developer, a manager, a skater, a friend. Above all, I am looking to grow.
My interest in packaging comes from a long time fascination with combining technology with design. Growing up, my hobbies could be encapsulated in creating art and joining my older brother in things like robotics. There is our robotics team winning at my first regional. In high school I found the Graphic Communications Management program at Toronto Metropolitan University (then Ryerson) , offering a concentration in Packaging. It drew my attention, combining the best of worlds graphics and engineering, and I haven't looked back since.
During my time at TMU I have explored many mediums which acumen with technology. From developing websites like this one to 3D printing and Augmented Reality. I had the great pleasure of assisting on my professors research in recycling symbols and later configuring with them on how we can produce reliable packaging prototypes (for new formats & materials with the new capacity unlocked by the campus's new Ricoh UV Flatbed and other technologies). I also was their teaching assistant for Sustainability in Packaging, Advanced Print Production Processes, and Prototyping Packaging courses . It was amazing to help educate and encourage students, watching them succeed.
Following my PPA Student Design Challenge win in 2020, I took this passion in supporting others to create into my role as VP of Competitions of MetPack (formerly RyePack) in my final year, where I helped propel ideas into innovative entries. Mine that year included my first forage into integrated-AR. A dip compared to the dive into my thesis: exploring all the barriers and how to overcome them to instill a reuse system for the Canadian cannabis industry. Inspired by the awe-inducing system which The Beer Store runs here too.
After graduation I landed in my role at WestRock, reporting to teams in Richmond and Atlanta from a production facility just out of Toronto. Independently building my lab, dancing through plotter troubles to performing finger gymnastics on auto-bottom samples (ifykyk). This role has taught me so much about the industry from board sourcing to automation machinery and designing for efficiency.
I continue to explore mediums and technologies in my spare time, recently picking up carpet tufting and circuit artwork. I look forward to the future and all the opportunities it may hold.
Still curious? Explore My Projects or Connect with me for more