Paper industry rooted at WMU

Emma Luther
Western Herald

A paper coater machine within the Department of Paper Engineering Chemical Engineering and Imaging on campus at Western Michigan University. Chyn Wey Lee/ Western Herald

Ever heard of a TV being printed on paper? Or using a laptop that is made out of paper fibers? This is some of the newest technology in the paper engineering industry that is being developed at Western Michigan University in the department of Paper Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Imaging at the college of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

The televisions or laptops printed on paper can be folded into any shape or form. This new technology is called OLED or organic light emitting diode.

“A television would be the weight, size, and flexibility of a comic book,” said Nikki Perk, the department’s student recruitment and outreach officer. The light emitting diodes emit their own light, so an additional light source is not required. These technologies are just a few things that can be discovered in the paper-engineering field.

“The WMU coating pilot plant [located at the Parkview campus] has industries testing their paper coatings for $12,900 per day,” Perk said.

The coating is the surface on the paper that makes it feel smooth, like the smooth color covering on your notebook. The coating is what allows such graphic detail to be printed onto the paper. More and better coating allows the OLED technology to be printed onto the paper.

Paper engineering is not only improving technology but also the environment.

“We are the oldest, greenest, most sustainable industry in the world,” Perk said. “For every tree we cut down we plant three more. This is because we are totally reliant on trees and water.”

One piece of paper is made up of 99.5 percent water and 0.05 percent pulp.

There are several different paths to take in the paper-engineering field. Paper engineers are involved in the mechanical, environmental, technological, process, chemical, creative, and production areas of making paper.

According to Perk, WMU paper engineers have 100 percent job placement with average starting salaries between $60,000 and $65,000. And on top of those career placement rates, WMU offers many scholarships to paper engineering students.

“We awarded $250,000 last year alone in scholarship monies,” Perk said. “There are scholarships out there that award students $20,000 to $30,000 on top of any other scholarships they are awarded.”

“I have had a lot of success with paper engineering at Western. It’s a small program with a lot of opportunities,” said Maggie Gerhart, a senior majoring in the program. “I have had the opportunity to travel around the world to places like China and Istanbul. Other opportunities such as paid internships have also helped me towards my career in paper engineering.”

For more information on paper engineering at WMU, go to www.wmich.edu/pci .

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Sep 30 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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