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With support from the UWSP College of Natural Resources and the College of Letters and Science

Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology
May 29, 2012
In This Issue
Lucigen, Virent at Focal Point 2012
Ring wins award
Coating rheology course in June
Research, Education, and Laboratory Services
 

pilot paper machineThrough its three divisions, WIST offers laboratory services, outreach education, and research to create sustainability solutions for businesses and organizations. Technology and ideas developed by WIST and its partners will spur economic growth in Wisconsin and the region and help all of us preserve and protect a healthy environment for future generations.


Follow-up Links

 

Lucigen, Virent to address
Focal Point 2012

 

Jeff Williams, president of the biotech company Lucigen, and Andrew Held, senior director of feedstock development for Virent, Inc., will present at Focal Point 2012: Capitalizing on Sustainable Technology.

Jeff Williams
Jeff Williams

 

 

Williams has more than 20 years of senior management experience in leading life science and diagnostic companies, including Roche Diagnostics, Ambion and Promega. Most recently, he was president and CEO at Platypus Technologies, a nanotechnology company located in Fitchburg, Wisconsin. 

 

 

  

 

Andrew Held
Andrew Held

Held joined Virent in 2007 as the director of process engineering.  In early 2010 Held started to lead Virent's feedstock development efforts and now focuses on that full-time. His current role combines commercial and technology aspects for feedstock development across the supply chain. Held's prior work includes 10 years of operations and R&D experience at Cargill, an international provider of food, agricultural and risk management products and services.

 

 

Previously announced speakers for Focal Point 2012 event are Kelly Rooney, director of recycling for Veolia ES Solid Waste, Kevin Hansen, technical manager at Erco Worldwide, and Kristine Young, sustainability manager for Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.

 

Focal Point 2012 will demonstrate how some of the region's leading companies are developing and adopting new technologies that are more sustainable and which contribute to their bottom line and competitiveness. Sustainable technologies are those aimed at sustainable development, or step-change advances aimed at reducing the material, energy and environmental impacts of production processes or products which at the same time give their proponents production differentiation and competitive edge.

 

The conference will showcase examples of renewable energy and biofuels, innovative use of renewable raw materials, resource efficiency, new product ownership models, and biocatalysis applications. 

 

More information about the conference is on the WIST website. Further speakers and program details including registration information will be announced shortly. 

Andrew Held

 

Ring wins award for "Best Journal Article of 2011"
Gerry Ring wins award
Gerry Ring accepts the TAPPI Journal Best Paper Awards from Larry Montague, TAPPI President and CEO (l) and Norman Marsolan, Chair, TAPPI BOD (r) at the PaperCon Awards Dinner on April 24, 2012.

The TAPPI Journal editorial board recently honored Gerry Ring with the 2011 Best Research Paper Award.
 

Ring is Director of Education for WIST and Professor and Chair of Paper Science at UWSP, where he teaches paper machine operations, paper and fiber physics, colloid and papermaking chemistry, and industrial thermodynamics. He has authored numerous scientific articles and has been awarded three patents on superabsorbent technology. Ring's current research interests involve fiber-length analysis and paper formation. A member of TAPPI for 30 years, he is a TAPPI Fellow and served on the TAPPI Board of Directors from 2005-2007. 

 

The board selected "The hyperbolic theory of light scattering, tensile strength, and density in paper" by Ring as TAPPI Journal's Best Research Paper for 2011. The paper appeared in the November 2011 issue and was one of six nominated for the award. Editorial board members assessed the research based on innovation, creativity, scientific merit, and clear and concise presentation of ideas. The paper and its author were honored at the Awards Gala Dinner on April 25 during PaperCon 2012, held April 22-25 in New Orleans, La.

 

Still time to register for Paper
and Board Coating Rheology
 

WIST's new course on coating rheology is set for June 13-14 at UWSP. Gain a stronger understanding of runnability, water retention and coating holdout to improve coating performance. Understanding rheological behaviors is essential for coated paper and coated board mill operations and technical professionals; coated paper mill research engineers and technologists; coating formulation development specialists; pigment, binder and coating additive development specialists; coating material application engineers and sales representatives; and research institute, pilot paper plant and development center technologists. Expert instructor Martti Makinen has taught rheology seminars since 1999 and has instructed in Finland, Sweden, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Austria, Germany and China. 

  

For more information or to register for courses, email Angie Hauer at [email protected], or phone Angie 715-346-2331.