WIST Brand extension 150px600wide 
With support from the UW-Stevens Point College of Natural Resources & College of Letters and Science
Sustainability News
January 2013
In This Issue
Singsaas to Europe
Job openings at WIST
UWSP seeks sustainability coordinator
Branding initiative at UW-Stevens Point
Plan to attend WIST courses
Governor's Business Plan Contest
Giving to WIST
Research, Education, and Laboratory Services
 

pilot paper machine 

 

 

 

WIST provides laboratory services, research and education 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 a healthy environment for future generations.


Follow-up Links

 

Annual Report October 2012 

 

 
TopGreetings!

I hope you are enjoying a great start to your New Year. At WIST, we're off to a fast start again, with strong interest in our laboratory services such as the compostability testing we recently launched and continuing advances in our isoprene research (see next story below).

 

You can jump to any of the stories in this issue using the index links at left, or simply scroll down to read them.

 

Thank you for your continued interest in and support of the Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

 

Paul Fowler

Executive Director

Singsaas to Europe

Eric Singsaas
Eric Singsaas
 Eric Singsaas, WIST director of research, will provide an update on the institute's isoprene research at an international exhibition and conference in Germany next month.

Singsaas has been invited to speak at Tire Technology Expo 2013, which will be held in Cologne Feb. 4-6.

The Tire Technology Expo is in its thirteenth year and bills itself as "the world's most important international gathering of tire manufacturing experts."

For WIST, the event offers an opportunity to connect with tire engineers and tire industry executives. The institute's isoprene research has been largely funded by US government agencies to this point, including the Department of Defense, but WIST is looking toward industry investment to commercialize its technology.
  
Isoprene is an important chemical used in manufacturing tires and is currently derived mainly from petroleum. But the tire industry is increasingly looking toward new, renewable materials for manufacture.
Singsaas's presentation is titled "Renewable Isoprene Production by Biochemical Processing."
  
Significant advances in isoprene research 

Singsaas said he will be describing two major advances WIST has made in the last year.

"One is the development of low-cost sugars that are converted into isoprene by our microbes," he said. "This process was covered in the patent that was issued to us last July. Second, I'm talking about our advances in photosynthetic isoprene."

In photosynthetic isoprene, Singsaas has been working with research partners at UW-Oshkosh to develop algae that use light energy to convert carbon dioxide directly into isoprene.
  
"We've made photosynthetic microbes that produce 80 times more isoprene than any previously published photosynthetic isoprene process," Singsaas said.

Commercial development of these processes will generate licensing revenue for the UW system and WIST, and will create opportunities for Wisconsin industries, such as paper and pulp mills, to develop bio-based materials that access new markets. 
  
WIST Laboratory Services posts job openings 
The institute has two current openings: Director of WIST Laboratory Services and WIST Paper Machine & Allied Laboratory Specialist. Screening of applications will begin Feb. 4 and continue until positions are filled. Click on the job titles to view position descriptions and application procedures.
  
UW-Stevens Point hiring
sustainability coordinator
The Sustainability Coordinator will work collaboratively with the UW-Stevens Point Sustainability Task Force, Facility Services, Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology (WIST), WCEE Education for Sustainability (EfS), UW-Stevens Point administration, faculty, staff, and student organizations to encourage and promote sustainable practices on campus. Click here to read the position description and application procedures.
  

Branding initiative at UW-Stevens Point eliminates center logos

You may have noticed a new logo at the top of this newsletter. With the start of the New Year, UW-Stevens Point has initiated a branding effort to improve consistency in university communications. The many independent logos that had been adopted over the years by various colleges, departments and centers will no longer be used.


Chancellor Bernie Patterson, in a memo to the campus, noted that more than 30 different logos were appearing on university apparel, products and publications.


"The use of dozens of different logos indicates we are unsure of who we are and what we represent," the chancellor wrote. "The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point brand has meaning and is valuable to all entities of the university."


Accordingly, the university created a brand extension hierarchy that allows for distinction between colleges, department and units, but also provides continuity and a universal appearance. This will also eliminate the need for multiple logos that appeared on some university publications.


The change will be effective immediately for new materials. But in the interest of cost-efficiency, the university has established a timetable under which existing materials may be used. All electronic publications, websites, apps, etc. will contain the appropriate brand extension July 1, 2013; all printed publications will have the appropriate brand extension December 31, 2013; all promotional items, banners and signage will contain the appropriate brand extension July 1, 2014.
 

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Plan now to attend WIST
short courses in 2013

Kelly Klaas, right, explains machine settings. WIST is again offering courses in papermaking and sustainability topics in the coming year. All courses are held on the UWSP campus

For more information on any of these courses, including course fees, registration and other details, see our online prospectus.
  
Courses scheduled include:
* Bioplastics: An Introductory Short Course: March 26
* Hands-on Papermaking: April 4-5
* Business Modeling: April 19
* Hands-on Pulping and Bleaching: April 25-26
* Introduction to Life Cycle Assessment: April 12
* Sustainable Energy: June 6
* Green Chemistry: June 20

Governor's Business Plan Contest  deadline is Jan. 31
Business Plan Contest logoThe 10th annual Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest is accepting entries online for the 2013 competition until 5 p.m. Jan. 31, 2013. The contest is designed to help entrepreneurs turn their ideas into business plans, to prepare them to launch a company, to get feedback from judges and to interact with investors and other professionals. Contest categories include Advanced Manufacturing, Business Services, Information Technology and Life Sciences. Finalists will share in more than $100,000 in cash and in-kind prizes. Since the contest's inception in 2004, nearly 2,300 entries have been received and about $1.5 million in cash and services (such as legal, accounting, office space and marketing) have been awarded. To enter, become a judge or a sponsor, visit www.govsbizplancontest.com.  
  
Giving to WIST 


Give Now buttonSupporting WIST financially is now as easy as clicking a button. To make a gift to the institute, click on the Give Now logo, which links to the UWSP Foundation. Please select 'Other' for your Gift Designation and in the Special Instructions field indicate your gift is for WIST. Thank you for your support! 

 

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