Engineering for Integrity: How Evergen’s Ashim Moona Builds Packaging Systems That Protect Patients

One of Moona’s most formative technical challenges came early in his tenure: qualifying an additional sterile barrier pouch supplier amid ongoing supply chain disruptions.

“Scoping that project was massive,” he says. “Meeting every requirement of ISO 11607 was overwhelming at first. I remember thinking, ‘Where do we even begin?’”

The effort required understanding seal strength testing, material characterization, transit simulation, aging studies, and sterile barrier integrity requirements.

“It became an evergreen teacher,” he says. “That project helped me understand not just the text of 11607-1 and 2, but how to apply them. I still reference those learnings on almost every packaging project I touch.”

The experience also taught him the value of asking questions. “People had gone through it before me,” he says. “Realizing that some work was already accomplished—especially on post-market packaging—was huge.”

Sustainability: Both Material and Process

When asked how sustainability gets factored into medical design, Moona shared how sustainability in medical packaging has two equally important dimensions.

1. Material & Environmental Sustainability

“When we talk sustainability, people think recyclable materials, circular economy,” he says. “That’s definitely part of it—especially in secondary and tertiary packaging.”

He cites RAPAC foams and molded pulp as materials that reduce environmental impact while offering protection in transit testing governed by ASTM D4169.

“Healthcare is stringent,” he adds. “Primary sterile packaging can’t always be recyclable. But where we can implement curbside-recyclable solutions, we absolutely should.”

2. Process Sustainability

The second, often overlooked dimension is operational.

“Process sustainability is a huge factor,” Moona explains. “If you control the design from the earliest feasibility stage through mass manufacturing, it sets operations and manufacturing up for long-term success.”

This includes ensuring proper tray tolerances, ergonomic loading forces, seal consistency, and operator usability—elements that directly affect process capability (Cp/Cpk) and packaging validation.

“You don’t want something so tight an operator can’t load it consistently,” he says. “That creates defects. Sustainability means designing a process that can be repeated and improved.”

Advancing Patient Care Through Packaging Engineering

Packaging’s role in patient care is often underestimated.

“Everything we do—the shelf-life testing, the transit simulation, the sterile barrier checks—is about patient safety,” Moona says. “Packaging is part of the product.”

He points to a recent industry innovation: adhesive-coated Tyvek.

“It reduces fiber tear, improves aseptic presentation, and—something I never thought about—reduces noise in the operating room. That can actually lower patient anxiety. It’s a perfect example of mechanical innovation having a human impact.”

Moona also highlights structural innovations such as paperboard inserts inside pouches, which stabilize products, reduce carbon emissions in transit, and streamline pre-surgical activation.

“Those solutions check so many boxes—performance, sustainability, usability, patient care,” he says. “That’s where the future is headed.”

Sustainability may be one part of the future of medical device,s but AI and digital tools are already shaping how work gets done. Moona graduated just before AI tools really surged, but data analytics had already shaped his work.

“One of my courses at Virginia Tech was entirely about interpreting data—control charts, SPC, the whole package,” he says. “Now I use Power BI pretty much every day.”

While he doesn’t yet leverage AI directly on production lines, he uses it as a decision-support resource.

“It helps me reconsider decisions or find gaps in what I don’t know,” he says. “It’s not making decisions for me, but it points me toward what to investigate.”

Though early in his career, Moona offers grounded, technical guidance to students entering the field:

• Careers aren’t linear. “Burnout can be a sign you need a different direction.”
• Let passion drive excellence. “I want excellence, not just success.”
• Master the standards. “Understanding ISO 11607-1 and 2 puts you ahead immediately. Same with ASTM D4169 and D3A. These aren’t optional—everyone has to follow them.”
• Ask questions constantly. “People around you want to help. Take advantage of that.”
• Work through imposter syndrome. “Focus on your weaknesses and build from them.”

Above all, he encourages new engineers to embrace the learning curve. “If you truly have a passion for medical device packaging,” he says, “you’re going to have to learn the standards—the easy way or the hard way.”

From supply chain-driven validations to sustainability initiatives to early-stage NPD design inputs, Moona is part of a new generation of packaging engineers supporting Evergen’s mission to put patients first.

“I’ve only been in the industry three years,” he says, “but the potential I see—machine learning, better materials, smarter structural design—is incredibly exciting. Every improvement ultimately helps the patient. That’s what makes this work meaningful.”