Press Releases
Paper tech meeting will round out week
of paper industry events
August 2006
KALAMAZOO-- The Paper Technology Foundation at Western Michigan University will holds its 47th annual meeting Thursday and Friday, Oct. 12-13, rounding out a week of high-level paper industry activities on the WMU campus.
About 40 top paper industry executives will travel to Kalamazoo from across the nation to take part in the annual meeting of the foundation. Some will arrive early to attend such events as a barrier coating symposium and an organizational meeting for a new research center involving WMU and Michigan State University . Also arriving early will be members of the PTF Board of Trustees who, along with other industry executives, will be conducting a mini-workshop for WMU students preparing for careers in the paper industry.
Highlights of the foundation's meeting, which will be held at WMU's Fetzer Center, will include:
- The PTF's annual Scholarship Luncheon honoring students who have been awarded some $100,000 in fall 2006 scholarships by the foundation;
- A keynote speech by. Mark A. Suwyn, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors of NewPage Corp. and NewPage Holding Corp; and
- A Friday morning briefing by WMU students who traveled to China as a part of a University-sponsored international immersion trip.
Speaker Suwyn is the former chairman and CEO of Louisiana-Pacific Corp. and a former executive with International Paper Co. and E.I. Dupont. He earned a doctoral degree in inorganic chemistry from Washington State University and is co-chairman of that university's foundation.
For further information or for a copy of the registration brochure, visit the foundation's web site or, call Jennifer Johnson at (269) 276-3964.
The Paper Technology Foundation, established in 1958, supports and enhances the internationally known paper programs offered by WMU's Department of Paper Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Imaging. Foundation members include many of the leading figures in the nation's paper industry.
Kicking off the week of paper-related events will be WMU's 4th Barrier Coating Symposium, Monday evening and all day Tuesday, October 9 and 10. When it was last held in 2004, this biennial event attracted more than 100 professionals working in the area of barrier coatings. The symposium offers a full program that will provide papermakers, suppliers, and converters with information about new technologies and a look at cutting-edge research being developed to address the issues faced by the barrier coating markets.
On Wednesday, Oct. 11, WMU's Department of Paper Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Imaging, in conjunction with Michigan State University's School of Packaging, will hold an organizational meeting to take advantage of a planning grant recently awarded by the National Science Foundation. The purpose of this grant is to determine corporate interest in establishing a center for research and development in barrier coatings. The award was made through NSF's prestigious Industry/University Cooperative Research Program.
The purpose of the proposed center is to discover and evaluate barrier coatings that have commercial applications. The NSF identified barrier coatings as being of significant, widespread commercial interest, and WMU and MSU as having the faculty expertise and facilities to carry out the work
All research will be pre-competitive. However, there will be provisions for securing intellectual property rights for individual companies. Proprietary research may also be contracted.
For information regarding the Barrier Coating Symposium, contact Dr. Margaret Joyce at margaret.joyce@wmich.edu or (269) 276-3514. Inquiries regarding the NSF meeting should be directed to Dr. Thomas Joyce at thomas.joyce@wmich.edu or 269-276-3515.