Department Chair's Letter

Gerry Ring

The number of Paper Science and Engineering majors has increased again this year. With a freshman class of 25, we are up to 57 students in the major. Bobbi Kubish and the PSE faculty are to be commended for their efforts in recruiting new students.

Placement was successful once again last year. We had more opportunities for coops than students to fill them, and all juniors had summer mill internships. The average starting salary for the seniors who entered the industry was $62,000 with one of the seniors going on to graduate school. This year’s job fair was a great success, with twenty companies participating. Placement for coops looks very good again this year.

The department hosted an evaluation team for ABET accreditation in September. The visit was hectic but successful, with the team providing some useful feedback for improvement of our assessment processes. We will know the final accreditation action in July 2009.

I had the opportunity to visit the European universities that will be our partners in the Trans-Atlantic Paper Science Dual Degree program. We compared curricula and, with the rest of the PSE faculty at UWSP, will iron out the details of this exciting new opportunity for our students. We anticipate the first group of UWSP students will head for Europe next year.

Don Guay has continued his work on biofuel research. He received grants from the State of Wisconsin and the Department of Defense totaling over $400,000 to support his work. He is collaborating with Eric Singsaas, a faculty member from the biology department.

Two new staff members joined the department this year. Some of you may know Kelly Klaas from her days as a Paper Science student. After working for Stora Enso in Wisconsin Rapids for seven years, she has joined us as our laboratory manager. She brings a great deal of energy and enthusiasm to her work, and we look forward to the implementation of her ideas in our labs. Kim Wilson is our program assistant. Many of you may have worked with her as she helped handle arrangements for the Foundation Annual Meeting and the PSE job fair. She brings a wealth of experience to her position, and we feel fortunate to have her on board.

Gerry Ring