Show Your Support -- Come to the Pulp and Paper Foundation Annual Meeting Sept 29 - Oct 2

Friends and alumni of the Paper Science & Engineering Program at NC State are being asked to show their support for the program by attending the upcoming annual meeting of the Pulp & Paper Foundation. This event, scheduled for September 29-October 2, will be a return to the classic annual meetings of years past -- with lots of student interactions, recognition of scholarship recipients and donors, information and updates about the programs and the industry....and lots and lots of fellowship and FUN!

Med Byrd, Director of Undergraduate Programs, has issued a special invitation to all alums: "We all know that the US paper schools, in addition to the industry, have recently faced some very difficult times. But we need for everyone to know that NC State continues to be strong -- enrollments are up, job placements continue to be high, and interest in the industry is on the rise. We need ALL of you to show us your support by coming out and being with us at this amazing event! Let's have a record-breaking attendance at this year's meeting and show everyone that this is an educational program that will play a pivotal role in the industry's success for many years to come. Ask your boss for time off....ask your boss to come....ask your company to participate in the Industry Day event -- come join us!"

This year's meeting has plenty of opportunities to meet PSE students and catch up with old friends and classmates. Here is a summary of the scheduled events:

Wednesday, September 29
5 - 7 pm -- "Industry Day" career fair

Thursday, September 30
7:30 am - 4:00 pm -- Golf Tournament, Lonnie Poole golf course
5:30 pm - 6:15 pm -- Cocktail Reception6:15 pm - 9:00 pm -- Scholarship and Recognition Banquet

Friday, October 1
7:30 am - 8:30 am -- Board Meeting
8:45 am - 9:30 am -- Committee Meetings
9:45 am - 11:30 am -- General Meeting
11:30 am - 1:00 pm -- Lunch
1:00 pm - 1:45 pm -- Keynote Speaker: Tommy Joseph, IP
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm -- Mill Manager's RoundTable

Saturday, October 2Foundation Tailgate Party
NC State vs. Virginia Tech football game

Meeting information can be obtained by going to http://www. or by contacting the following:

Gus Cottros (gus_cottros@ncsu.edu)
Ernie Alexander (ernie_alexander@ncsu.edu)

Full event information and on-line registration is available at the link below (on-line registration is in the process of begin activated...should happen soon):
http://cnr.ncsu.edu/ppf/annual_meeting.htm

Senior David Froggatt is coordinating this year's
Foundation Golf Tournament.

"Industry Day" to be Held on September 29

In association with the upcoming annual meeting of the Pulp and Paper Foundation, a new "Industry Day" event will be held on campus on Wednesday, September 29, from 5 - 7 pm. The location is the Witherspoon Student Center, just down the street from the PSE building. A large auditorium will be equipped with booths and tables to accommodate a number of companies. A light dinner will be served.

Companies with a booth at this event will have unique face-to-face time with students interested in jobs in the paper and allied industries. Not only will Paper Science & Engineering students be at this event, but they will joined by students seeking degrees in Chemical, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineering.

The cost for the event is $250 for Foundation members and $1000 for non-members. Interested companies should contact (soon!) Gus Cottros (gus_cottros@ncsu.edu) or Ernie Alexander (ernie_alexander@ncsu.edu).

Vigorous Recruiting Season Anticipated

Nine students will graduate with a PSE degree or PSE/CHE dual degrees in December, and another 17 will graduate in May 2011. Industry recruiting of these graduates, along with candidates for summer internships and semester co-ops, is expected to be vigorous this fall.

Pat Hill, our Student Services Assistant, reports that six companies have signed up already to participate in this year's Industry Day event (see post above) associated with the Pulp & Paper Foundation meeting. In addition, 11 other companies have signed up for on-campus recruiting.

Pat encourages all companies to schedule on-campus recruiting events as soon as possible. You can reach her at pat_hill@ncsu.edu or at 919-515-2888.

Welcome Kate McIntyre -- Our New Recruiter

The Department of Forest Biomaterials is happy to welcome on board Katherine (Kate) McIntyre as the new student recruiter for both the Paper Science & Engineering and Wood Products programs in the Department of Forest Biomaterials.

Kate comes to us from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where she served as Assistant Director of Admissions. A native New Englander, Kate attended Bentley University. She has extensive experience in recruiting students to focused science/engineering programs like PSE. She was selected from a pool of 123 applicants for the position.

Please help us make her feel at home here at NC State!

New Student Enrollment Strong

Twenty-seven new freshmen entered NC State as Paper Science & Engineering students this fall, more than double the figure for 2009. It is hoped that 5-10 more transfer students will be added to this group in the next year, for a net sophomore class of 32-37.

Last year's freshman class, which started out at 12 in Fall 2009, has increased to an amazing 37!

Part of the reason for this growth can no doubt be attributed to the Foundation scholarships, which are particularly attractive to prospective students and parents during a tough economic time. However, it seems that the larger part of the growth is because the "PSE message" resonates well with students across the campus -- a message about faculty engagement, hands-on learning, high summer internship placements, high permanent job placement rates, and high starting salaries.

NC State is committed to providing the pulp and paper industry with highly-qualified entry-level engineers that will ensure the success of the industry for many years to come.

New PSE freshmen engaged in the traditional
"giant handsheet competition"

Help Send Students to Brazil for PIE 2011

The Paper International Experience (see post below) has sent two cohorts of PSE students to China (2007) and Chile (2009). These have been incredible learning experiences for the students. For the next trip in May 2011, we want to send a large group to tour pulp and paper mills in Brazil.

We need your help in obtaining funding that will cover 2/3 of the student costs. If you are interested in helping, or if your company would like to be an official sponsor, please contact med_byrd@ncsu.edu.

Paper International Experience 2009 Report Finally Ready!

Every two years, the Paper International Experience (PIE) program sends a group of juniors and seniors in Paper Science & Engineering to another country abroad. The goals are A) to immerse them in a different culture and broaden their global awareness; and B) to let them see how the paper industry works in a different country. It is hoped that such an experience will help the students understand the global nature of the industry and help the industry become more competitive.

In 2009, the PIE trip took 11 students to Chile. Normally, a formal report is prepared and printed after the trip is complete. Given the very tight budget year, it was not possible to do this for 2009. However, two of the student participants (Dane Grismer and Nick King) did prepare a wonderful pdf report, which has been stuck in "e-limbo" for some time now. But we are pleased to report that it is ready. By clicking on the link below, you can access this amazing student-written account of the trip to Chile (it's a large, high-resolution file...so it will take about 1 minute to download).

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~medbyrd/PIEChileReport.pdf

Important Foundation Meeting Planned for Fall 2010 -- Save the Date! Your Attendance Needed!

Fall 2010 will see a return to the "classic" style of Annual Meeting for the Pulp & Paper Foundation. We are asking all alumni and friends of the PSE program to hold the dates of September 29 - October 2 open -- and to plan to attend and show your support for us!

The tentative schedule is as follows:

• Wednesday, September 29: Mini Career Fair / Student Recruiting Event (for member companies)
• Thursday, September 30: Foundation Golf Tournament (Lonnie Poole Course); Foundation Cocktail Reception and Banquet
• Friday, October 1: Pulp and Paper Foundation Meeting (including business meetings and full technical program); Embassy Suites, Cary
• Saturday, October 2: NC State vs. Virginia football game / Foundation Tailgate Party

Details about the technical program and the full schedule will be coming soon. Please join us in this traditional (and critical) event!

Summer Internships STILL Needed!

Although the end of the semester is here, there are still a number of PSE undergraduates who are seeking internships in the paper and allied industries. It's not too late to get a great PSE student for your company! Contact Dr. Med Byrd at med_byrd@ncsu.edu .

Nine Students Graduating This Month

Nine new engineering professionals will enter the industry this month, as they receive their B.S. degrees in Paper Science & Engineering on May 15. Seven of these students will also receive B.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering.

Seven of the nine have accepted job offers in the paper, allied or other industries. One is still fielding offers. One will attend graduate school at NC State.

With the five students who graduated in December 2009, the PSE program graduated a total of 14 students for the 2009-2010 academic year. This figure is a bit lower than normal, due to a high number of students that were delayed by going on co-op (next year's class is expected to be pretty large). The overall placement rate for the combined group was 85 %.

Dr. Michael Kocurek to Retire in June 2010

Dr. Michael Kocurek, Professor of Paper Science & Engineering in the Department of Forest Biomaterials, has announced that he will retire in June of this year, after 40 years of undergraduate and graduate teaching in the area of pulp and paper.

Mike is one of the world's most recognized educators in pulp and paper. In addition to teaching and mentoring hundreds of students at the undergraduate and graduate level, he has taught over 5,000 industry operators and professionals at over 65 paper, government, and other companies or organizations. He has taught the well-recognized TAPPI Introduction to Pulp & Paper short course since 1974. He is the editor of 11 books, including the esteemed Pulp and Paper Manufacture series covering the entire field of pulp and paper. He has also authored or co-authored 25 video publications.

Dr. Kocurek receive his BS, MS, and PhD. degrees in Paper Science & Engineering from the SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry, at Syracuse University. He has served as both Professor and Department Head at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point (an academic program he founded) and at NC State. He has also served as Executive Director of the Herty Foundation, overseeing a $27 million modernization.

His honors include: TAPPI Fellow; TAPPI Distinguished Service Award; and the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame.

From your students and colleagues: Dr. Kocurek....Mike.....your contributions to this program will be long remembered. Thanks for your service -- you will be greatly missed!

Dr. Marty Hubbe Named as TAPPI Fellow

Martin A. Hubbe, Ph.D., has been designated as one of nine TAPPI Fellows for 2010. He currently serves as Professor in the Department of Forest Biomaterials at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C., USA. "Fellow" is an honorary title bestowed upon less than one percent of TAPPI's membership. It is given to individuals who have made extraordinary technical or service contributions to the industry and/or the Association.

Dr. Hubbe teaches PSE 322 (Wet End and Colloid Chemistry) at the undergraduate level, as well as several graduate-level classes. He serves as the Buckman Distinguished Scientist in Wet End Chemistry, and he has a very active research program in this area. He is the co-editor of BioResources, an on-line journal.

MORE Students Win TAPPI Scholarships!

PSE students continue to represent their program well in the competition for national TAPPI scholarships. Recent awards include:

Richard Pridgen -- Corrugated Packaging Division
Jonathan Roesch -- Engineering Division
Michael Woolford -- Process and Product Quality

WPS Department Changes Its Name

Effective in early 2010, the Department of Wood & Paper Science changed its name to the Department of Forest Biomaterials. This decision was based on a desire to more accurately describe the wide scope of education, research, and extension activities being done by the department -- not just in the traditional areas of paper and wood products, but also in the rapidly-growing area of biomaterials and bioenergy from woody and non-woody biomass.

It should be noted that the names of the two undergraduate programs in the department (Paper Science & Engineering, and Wood Products) will not be affected by this name change. Correspondingly, the prime focus of both programs will continue to be the training of outstanding new engineers and technologists to support industries in the forest products arena.

"We are excited about the opportunities to continue to serve the needs of our core industrial partners, while expanding our research opportunities," said Dr. Steve Kelley, the head of the department. "We believe that the new name will allow us to attract more students into the undergraduate degree programs, but also allow us to leverage our traditional engineering and science skills into new and exciting areas of interest to our graduate students."

27 New Freshmen Slated for PSE in Fall 2010

A vigorous recruiting campaign in 2009 and early 2010 has yielded great results -- we are expecting 27 new freshmen to join the PSE in the fall of 2010. Last year, at this time, we had only 12 new students lined up -- hopefully, that low figure was only a temporary blip.

For the 27 new recruits, 22 are recipients of Foundation scholarships. The statistics for these students are interesting:

• Three originally applied to PSE (five scholarship offers were made)
• Five originally applied to Engineering Undeclared (16 offers were made)
• 14 originally applied to Chemical Engineering (18 offers were made)
  

Recruiting is a team effort...and we have lots of people to thank, including:

> Those of you that spoke of our program to a prospective student or parent of a student
> The Pulp and Paper Foundation
> The Foundation Scholarship and Recruitment Committee
> Industry reps who organize and host regional recruiting events
> Carrie Hawes
> Pat Hill
> PSE Faculty and staff