School of Packaging Sustainable Materials Group

Sadaf Mearaj Khan joined the group in Fall 2025 and is currently a Ph.D. student in the School of Packaging at Michigan State University. She earned her M.S. in Biosystems Engineering from Seoul National University, South Korea, where her research focused on sustainable material engineering, including lignin-based nanoparticles for skincare applications and lignin-derived hydrogels for wound healing, sensing, and energy-harvesting systems.

At MSU, her doctoral research centers on sustainable packaging materials, with an emphasis on paper recycling, paper and polymer coating systems, polymer processing, and recyclability-driven material design. Her work aims to improve barrier performance, processability, and end of life outcomes of fiber-based and polymer-coated packaging materials. She aspires to become an entrepreneur, building her own packaging technologies and translating laboratory research into real world systems capable of functioning under extreme environments, including space.

Outside the lab, Sadaf enjoys reading, strength training, and baking. She is especially enthusiastic about pastry-making, where she applies the same curiosity and precision she brings to research. She seriously claims a long-term ambition of becoming a professional pastry chef oneday.