As most industry professionals can tell you, TAPPI JOURNAL (TJ) has been an invaluable scientific resource for many years. But for 42-year TAPPI member Al Button, Ph.D., it actually served as the catalyst for a successful pulp and paper career devoted to research and discovery.

Fueled by his TJ findings, and subsequent TAPPI membership, Al went on to develop a seemingly insatiable appetite for learning and knowledge-sharing throughout his long and successful career. To this day, he says he is still amazed at the number of contacts he has made through the years and how readily accessible they remain. Find out more by reading this month's Member Spotlight.

Spotlight participants are recommended by fellow members and staff. If you would like to nominate a member just send their name (or names) to MemberSpotlight@tappi.org. We will forward a Spotlight Questionnaire to fill out and return. We look forward to seeing you in the Spotlight!

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A Few Seats Open for Pulp and Paper Basics Workshop

The 2012 Hands-On Workshop for Pulp and Paper Basics typically sells out weeks in advance, yet a few seats remain open, which offers anyone still undecided the opportunity to take full advantage of the March 5-9 workshop being held at the North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.

Register for the Hands-On Workshop for Pulp and Paper Basics presented by TAPPI and North Carolina State University to gain this comprehensive, laboratory-based experience.

This hands-on workshop provides a broad overview of Pulping, Bleaching, Chemical Recovery, Recycling, Papermaking and Converting. The 5-day program offers presentations in the morning and hands-on laboratory and pilot-plant exercises in the afternoon. Students receive a course notebook and CD with approximately 400 pages of reference materials. This workshop sponsored by TAPPI and North Carolina State University balances lectures and laboratories at NC State's beautiful educational setting in Raleigh, North Carolina.

This introductory-level workshop is ideal for technical and non-technical employees with a desire for lab-focused instruction that will help them understand and appreciate the basics of pulping, bleaching, recovery, recycling, papermaking and converting operations.

Stock up on 3.7 CEUs and join others March 5-9, 2012 in Raleigh, NC.

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Attend the Shipping, Receiving and Warehousing Workshop, in Nashville, April 2-4, 2012, and learn new ways to avoid expensive roll damage and improve your bottom line. Be a part of this dedicated group of mills, carriers, warehouses and printers as they collaborate to reduce in-transit damage to rolls of paper at this premier forum for industry leading paper shippers.

This is truly a practical, interactive and collaborative shipping and receiving workshop put on by industry professionals, for industry professionals - all parties of the supply chain - to address common issues and concerns relating to damage and damage prevention in the paper industry. It's an excellent networking opportunity - paper buyers, paper companies, carriers, securing / damage prevention specialists, block and bracing manufacturers, safety experts all under one roof. Learn more about TAPPI's Shipping, Receiving and Warehousing Workshop.

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An Invitation to Present has been announced for TAPPI's 2012 International Bioenergy and Bioproducts Conference (IBBC), October 17-19, 2012 in Savannah, Georgia.

IBBC will focus on technical advancements and commercialization of bioconversion technologies that leverage the forest products manufacturing infrastructure and will include technical presentations, expert panels, case studies, and reports from projects that address:

• Feedstock and harvesting improvements to increase yield and quality of biomass
• Bioelectricity using combined heat and power (CHP)
• Bioconversion technologies for wood and biomass
• Production of chemicals and transportation fuels from wood and biomass
• Policies and incentives for bioconversion projects

Presentations are sought in the following areas:

Advances in Technology: strong technical papers with a focus on presenting new findings

• Biomass Supply & Demand
• Advances in Conversion Pathways ·
• Biomass Harvesting & Preparation
• Advances in Bioproducts

Commercialization Activities: case studies and updates from pilot scale, commercial, and pre-commercial operations

• Biorefineries
• Repurposing the Traditional Pulp and Paper Mill
• Harvesting and Preparation · Technical Economic Analyses
• Commercial Collaborations for Enabling Technologies
• Project Deployment Issues

Impacts of Policies and Incentives: analysis of existing or proposed bioconversion policies at State, Provincial or Federal levels

• Public policy proposals
• Pulp/paper incentives that support bioconversion progress
• Assessing common ground between pulp/paper and agricultural bioconversion policies

Limited space is available for poster presentations.

Abstract Submission Information:

Authors interesting in presenting a paper should upload their abstract to the TAPPI's Speaker Management System

Abstract Requirements: Abstracts should be no more than 200 words.

Submission Deadline: March 9, 2012

Presentations Deadline: September 17, 2012 Authors will be notified of acceptance by April 20, 2012.

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With the industry's largest technical program, PaperCon is where CEOs, mill managers, superintendents, scientists, process engineers and suppliers gather to learn and network. PaperCon 2012 is about "Growing the Future": leveraging resources and people to ensure value for your customers, long-term success. Located in the heart of the Southern USA pulp and papermaking region, PaperCon sessions will highlight today's dynamic packaging sector.

Program tracks include Papermakers, Coating and Graphic Arts and PIMA Management. The PaperCon program also features: Inside and outside the box: Optimizing paperboard grades , the Sustainability Forum , an Executive Panel Discussion , a Young Professional Program , Coating 101 Course and other practical workshops and seminars and features the largest PaperCon exhibit ever. Bonus Sessions (open to all PaperCon registrants) Control Systems 2012: The first USA appearance for this highly-rated biannual conference. RPTA Production-Technical Seminar , the OpEx Reliability Seminar .

Take a moment to register and reserve your hotel room for this year's "must attend" event.

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PaperCon's Procurement and Sourcing Forum taking place Monday, April 23, 2012, is an opportunity for professionals involved in the procurement of materials and services in the manufacturer of paper and packaging materials to identify best-in-class procurement strategies, highlight better ways to manage data, discuss mechanisms and approaches to increase value, learn about relevant industry-wide issues and concerns, and meet and network with industry peers Topics will address best practices and emerging trends in procuring consumables, chemicals, energy, mechanical parts, but not capital equipment.

Designed by industry professionals, PaperCon 2012 will bring together CEOs, mill managers, superintendents, scientists, process engineers and suppliers for the largest pulp and paper technical program in the world, April 22-25 in New Orleans.

Located in the heart of the Southern USA pulp and papermaking region, PaperCon 2012 will focus on "Growing the Future"; leveraging renewable, recyclable raw materials to ensure value for customers and long-term sustainability for shareholders. It's an event you can't afford to miss.

Learn more about the Procurement and Sourcing Forum and PaperCon.

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Eliminating Cost while Enhancing Customer Value Workshop

Taking place at PaperCon, this one-day workshop on Sunday, April 21 will help you learn and identify effective tools and techniques needed to build a customer-centered, fact-based cost reduction strategy

Lead by Christopher W. Miller, PhD, NPDP, President Innovation Focus, Inc., this workshop features a customer-centered and creative approach to value analysis (the Unilever approach). Attend and learn how to unleash the power of your organization; design a customer-centered cost reduction project; facilitate an effective cost reduction effort; and how to select tools and techniques that will help you and your team be more customer-centered.

During this workshop, you'll learn how to design a customer-centered cost reduction project, facilitate an effective cost reduction effort, select tools and techniques that will help their team be more customer centered and build a customer centered, fact based cost reduction strategy

Process engineers and mid-to-upper level manufacturing managers within the paper manufacturing industry with an interest in cost management and reduction will find this course beneficial. Experience in cost reduction and related activities would be helpful.

Learn more about Eliminating Cost while Enhancing Customer Value Workshop and PaperCon.

The cost for this course is only 500 USD, which includes lunch and course materials. This special rate is being offered to TAPPI for this one-time workshop. Register now.

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Training Standard for Paper Machine Tender, Standard Guideline T 1501 sg-11

New training standard for paper machine tenders

A technical committee of TAPPI members working with NPT2, the National Network for Pulp and Paper Technology Training, has developed a training standard for paper machine tenders―T-1501. This new standard provides guidelines for the skills and knowledge needed by a paper machine tender—often referred to as the paper machine first hand. Training standard for paper machine tender, Standard Guideline T 1501 sg-11

This standard will also be useful as a measure of the capabilities and understanding that a person must have to successfully perform the machine tender function. As the first standard of this type based on the information sources referenced, this particular standard may serve as a model to see if similar standards would be useful for other pulp and paper mill job classifications.

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