Member Spotlight: Young Professional Ying Xue from China

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For nearly 100 years, being part of the TAPPI community has meant members have the opportunity to easily connect with other industry experts from around the world.  With the 21st century well underway, that international support is still going strong. Take young professional Ying Xue, for instance.

 A native of Hangzhou, China, Ying received her B.E. degree in Light Chemical Engineering from South China University of Technology in 2007, and then her Ph.D. in Forest Biomaterials from North Carolina State University (NCSU) in 2011.  Throughout her academic pursuits, Ying says she came across one resource that was consistently touted as one of the best – TAPPI. 

"I first learned about TAPPI at South China University of Technology," Ying explains. "I was working on a project utilizing biomass and most of our characterizations were performed using TAPPI Standards."  When she moved on to grad school, Ying says the TAPPI acronym showed up in many research papers, course packs, and nearly every chapter of her thesis.  It was at that point she realized, "I need to be a member."

Although she waited until she had landed her first professional position to join, Ying says that TAPPI greatly influenced her career choice while still in school. She notes the NCSU chapter is a very active one and while there she attended several meetings, one of which featured working P&P professionals who shared their career stories. 

"That meeting convinced me that this was the field for me," and at that very moment she decided to switch her degree from a Master's to a Ph.D. She believed then, and does even more firmly now, that the P&P industry generously supports young professionals when they make the decision to pursue their careers in it.

Her advice to new careerists and current students?  "TAPPI is a helpful resource, not only for learning knowledge at school and finding a job, but also to obtain new thoughts and ideas from annual conferences."  She calls her current position as a research associate in the Fiber Technology Solutions Group at International Paper's Cincinnati Technology Center her "dream job" and credits TAPPI and its NCSU chapter with helping her find it.

Ying Xue's on TAPPI's November Member Spotlight Page.

Learn more about TAPPI's Member Spotlight and check out previous month's stand-outs.

For more information on TAPPI's student chapters and careers in the industry, contact TAPPI's Libby Settle at +1.770.209.7345.

We look forward to seeing you in the spotlight!