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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Atlanta, GA | Posted: January 29, 2016
The Renewable Bioproducts Institute at Georgia Tech benefits from a substantial endowment which began in 1929 to advance the forest products industry through leadership development and graduate research that addresses current/future needs of this industry. The endowment over the years has produced more than 1,500 graduate scientists and a growing body of scientific research. Recently, the focus of endowment-sponsored research has broadened beyond pulp and paper exclusively to include a wider scope of research related to forest biomaterials. The research mission of the RBI includes technologies that produce chemicals, biofuels and new materials from forest raw materials, and the recently awarded fellowships have reflected this evolving portfolio.
RBI plans to award ‘IGER’ fellowships, since the PSE academic program is multidisciplinary. A proposal in this category would have, in general, three faculty and three PSE students. RBI awarded one IGER fellowship in 2015 and desires to continue to recognize and encourage collaborative programs of study.
Funding Requests. Faculty wishing support for an RBI Research Fellow should submit an application by 5 pm March 1, 2016, which includes the elements listed below. The titles and abstracts will be shared more broadly in RBI communications with member companies for the purpose of gaining their support for co-funding the submitted projects. To preserve intellectual property rights, the full proposals themselves will not be shared beyond the Georgia Tech reviewers.
The mission of the PSE program is to provide students with the intellectual basis to be educated citizens, to prepare them for the practice of their profession, and to advance the science and technology that form the basis of Paper Science and Engineering. The program achieves its mission through the following activities:
A fixed number of projects (depending on available funding) will be selected and announced prior to April 15, 2016. The current goal is to award 10 new RBI Research Fellowships (Research GRAs) beginning Fall 2016. Approved positions must be filled during the fall 2016 semester. Failure to recruit qualified students by that date jeopardizes the fellowship award.
Alignment of Research with Strategic Areas. Funding will be aligned with the RBI strategic areas, the pulp, paper and forest products industry’s expressed research priorities, and those of Georgia Tech. RBI has several strategic thrusts in its research mission, described below. RBI also has the opportunity to leverage the endowment with broader initiatives across Georgia Tech. Collaborative programs, perhaps in the IGER model, are encouraged, as are programs that an industry or a consortium of industries might co-fund. The IGER model would engage (approximately) three faculty and three students in collaboration for a specific research objective.
The industry Agenda 2020 research roadmaps developed during 2014 and expanded in 2015 highlight areas of priority research where a technical breakthrough could be transformative for the forest products industry. We are interested in three specific areas of these roadmaps: substantially reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption (per unit output); reduce fresh water intake (per unit output) by at least 50%; and increase fiber yield in pulping through, for example, chip pretreatment and novel catalysis materials and processes. Energy reductions in concentration of spent pulping liquor and in paper drying are highlighted. Please see specific research needs articulated in this area in the Agenda 2020 roadmaps (summary attached).
Research Thrusts. Research thrusts for the academic year 2016-2017 RBI Fellowship call for proposals include three areas: Pulp, Paper, and Packaging (including operational excellence—cost reduction and new products); Biorefining of Biochemicals and Biofuels; and Bio-based Materials and Composites (including nanocellulose).
The RBI Fellowship faculty committee, RBI member company representatives, and the executive director of RBI will use these priorities to assist in decision-making on awarding fellowships for projects judged relevant to the renewable bioproducts industries’ needs and aligned with strategic priorities.
Selection of RBI Fellowship Proposals for Funding. The faculty research proposal and abstract for industry will be reviewed through the following process:
Criteria. RBI Fellowships are to be awarded to faculty in consideration of the following criteria: (1) the strength of the research proposal, the contribution of the intended findings to the body of knowledge and to the industry, and the plausibility of success; (2) alignment with the RBI strategic areas and the pulp, paper and forest products industry’s priorities as expressed by the Agenda 2020 Roadmaps; (3) commitment to exposing students to the manufacturing environment and its challenges and opportunities and preparing them to assume leadership roles in the industry; and (4) adoption of the faculty “conditions of support” outlined below.
Selection of PSE Students for the RBI Fellowships. Once a faculty research proposal has been selected, the fellowships are to be awarded to student candidates in consideration of two sets of criteria: (1) the academic record of the student and (2) alignment of the students’ research ambitions with the RBI strategic mission. The home school and the PSE Faculty Committee are to evaluate candidates by these criteria and submit recommendations to the executive director of RBI. The decision to award a fellowship to a student rests with the executive director of RBI. Students selected for funding must enroll with a PSE major or minor. Faculty may not transfer RBI fellowships to other students.
Terms of Awards. RBI fellowships are generally awarded for a term of 2 years (MS student) or 4 years (PhD student), subject to satisfactory progress towards the degree objective. In the case of a student’s having made prior progress toward his or her degree, the 2- or 4-year award terms may be reduced at the time of the initial GRA award. Any funds beyond the initial award term are the responsibility of the advisor.
Conditions of Support. As a prerequisite to receiving the PSE GRA, RBI must receive from faculty advisors a commitment to RBI and the PSE academic program.
Summary: Our interest is in developing a collaborative support system for the PSE students while delivering research results aligned with industry needs and donor restrictions.
Additional Information:
Agenda 2020 Vision 2030: Advanced Manufacturing of Pulp, Paper and Forest Bioproducts--A Vision for the Future http://www.agenda2020.org/uploads/1/1/4/1/11419121/a2020_fact_sheet_-_agenda_2030v6.pdf :
“By developing and implementing advanced manufacturing technologies, THE U.S. PULP AND PAPER INDUSTRY COULD, BY 2030:
Integrated Graduate Education and Research Program (IGER) at RBI
RBI Fellowships
Paper Science & Engineering Academic Program
Goal
To enable RBI to leverage its graduate fellowship program into higher impact programs with research objectives of broad scientific merit and with outcomes that can lead to intellectual property generation.
Format
RBI currently funds approximately 10 fellowships per year which are awarded to individual investigators based on peer review. The idea of the IGER program is to take a fraction of these fellowships—say, a minimum of three—and award them to a group of faculty who will jointly supervise the students and make advances in an area of significant RBI interest that cuts across multiple disciplines. It is envisioned that one to two such groups could be funded each year on the basis of the relative quality of the IGER proposals compared to the individual project proposals.
Requirements
Student Statement of Interest
Statement of Interest
Each student candidate should address each question with a one or two paragraph response.
The PSE fellowship requires you to take two required pulp & paper manufacturing courses and two pulp & paper electives. Elective choices can be obtained from the RBI or participating School website.
PSE Course Requirements for PSE Fellows
All students funded on a PSE Fellowship must complete 12 credits of PSE coursework. These 12 credits constitute a PSE minor or, when combined with other courses determined by the home school, constitute the curriculum for a PSE degree. Students completing the PSE minor must file the appropriate declaration routing form with the home school as well as the RBI executive director’s office prior to graduation.
PSE Core courses (each course is 3 credit hours)
Required of students in all home schools
ChBE 6741 Pulp and Paper Manufacture I
ChBE 6742 Pulp and Paper Manufacture II
Two courses from the following list
ChBE 6232: Chemical Engineering Processes in Pulp & Paper Manufacturing
ME 6281: Mechanics of paper forming and coating
MSE 6406: Environmental degradation of materials
CHEM 8833: Pulping and bleaching chemistry
Other courses may be added to this list after approval by the PSE Faculty Committee.
PSE Course Descriptions
ChBE 6741 - Pulp and Paper Manufacture I
The fundamentals of pulp and paper technology including unit operations involved in the sequence leading up to the headbox in a paper mill. Applications are explored and augmented by field trips and recent case studies.
3.000 Credit Hours; 3.000 Lecture Hours;
ChBE 6742 - Pulp and Paper Manufacture II
Papermaking technology from a multidisciplinary engineering perspective with emphasis on relationships between transport and interaction of fiber suspensions on the final properties of the finished paper. Students participate in groups to run a pilot papermaking trial at the Henry Foundation in Savannah.
3.000 Credit Hours; 3.000 Lecture Hours;
ChBE 6232 – Chemical Engineering Processes in Pulp & Paper Manufacturing
The science and engineering of processes in the pulp and paper industry, including advanced bleaching processes, and chemical recovery processes. Environmental modeling and papermaking chemistry will also be covered.
3.000 Credit Hours; 3.000 Lecture Hours;
ME 6281 – Mechanics of Paper Forming and Coating
Fundamentals of multiphase flow in paper forming and coating processes, and their impact on the physical properties of composite fiber structures and surface characteristics. Flow characteristics of suspensions in process components are analyzed in depth.
3.000 Credit Hours; 3.000 Lecture Hours;
Chem 8833 – Pulping and Bleaching Chemistry
Fundamental chemistry associated with pulping and bleaching of wood. Includes detailed analysis of the chemical structure of wood components, the reactions of pulping and bleaching reagents with typical carbohydrate and lignin functional groups, and the factors that govern the degree of lignin vs carbohydrate degradation.
3.000 Credit Hours; 3.000 Lecture Hours;
MSE 6406 - Environmental Degradation of Materials
Basic interactions of materials with their environment. Degradation of the properties of materials when exposed to different environments. Includes fundamentals of corrosion, with appropriate examples from bleach plants, boilers, paper machines, and water treatment plants.
3.000 Credit Hours; 3.000 Lecture Hours;
