Free Webinar (to PPEC Members Only) – February 25, 2015 – 1:30 PM EST
Canadian scientific research is helping shape the future of paper packaging. Here’s an opportunity to get in on the ground floor as it relates to packaging grades: whether it is cellulose foams or lignin composites, bio-active or anti-bacterial paper, or light-weighting.
Areas Covered:
Quick overview of the scientific work of FIBRE (the largest university forest-based R & D initiative in the world): Theo van de Ven
Cellulose and lignin foams for use in packaging. Novel foam materials from trees could replace Styrofoam and plastic packaging materials: Reza Korehei
Bio-active papers to prevent food spoilage and detect pathogens. Antimicrobial starch and active biological material in paper can enhance food safety as well as provide sterile packaging in medical applications: George Rosenberg
Light-weighting of packaging material and alternatives to plastics. New forest-based materials are now available to improve packaging performance and to provide an alternative to plastic: Rafik Allem
Who Should Participate?
Package Designers, R & D staff, Quality Managers, Executive Managers, Sales Managers.
Speaker Bios:
Professor Theo van de Ven
Professor Theo van de Ven holds the Sir William C. Macdonald Chair in the Department of Chemistry at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He is an expert in colloid and surface chemistry, both in fundamental aspects and applied to papermaking and cellulosic materials. He has published well over 300 papers in the scientific literature, including the book (“Colloidal Hydrodynamics”, Acad. Press 1989) and several book chapters.
He obtained the equivalent of a B.Sc and M.Sc. (in physical and colloid chemistry with a minor in theoretical physics) from the University of Utrecht, Holland, and obtained his PhD from McGill University (1976). After a 2 year postdoc at the University of Sydney, Australia, he returned to McGill, where he is now a Full Professor in the Department of Chemistry. Prior to that, he held a Paprican Adjunct Professorship in the same department, while employed by the Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada (Paprican), where he became a principal scientist. In this capacity he was responsible for Academic Affairs of Paprican and was part of their Operating Management Group.
Presently Prof Theo van de Ven is the Scientific Director of a Strategic NSERC Research Network in “Innovative Green Wood Fiber Products”. Moreover he is the Director of a FQRNT Centre for Self-Assembled Chemical Structures (CSACS) and the Chair of FIBRE, a consortium of 8 research networks in forest innovation.
His major awards are:
Kalev Pugi Award of the SCI (Society of Chemical Industry) (2012)
Elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1998)
American Chemical Society (ACS) Award in Colloid and Surface Chemistry (1996)
Van Arkel Professor at the University of Leiden (2001)
Guest Professorship at the Technical University of Delft (2004)
Guest Fellowship of the Royal Society (London UK) (1988)
Reza Korehei
Reza Korehei is a post-doctoral research fellow in the Pulp and Paper Centre at the University of British Columbia. He holds a BSc from Tehran University in Applied Chemistry and obtained his MSc and PhD in Advanced Biomaterial Chemistry from the University of British Columbia. His research subject is on biomaterial & biopolymer chemistry with a focus on producing and development of novel materials from wood-based biopolymers. Reza designed and performed a number of projects where he could control the extent and strength of intermolecular interaction by employing appropriate components to achieve the desired material for targeted application.
George N. Rosenberg, Ph. D.
Dr. Rosenberg received his B.Sc. (Honours Chemistry) from the University of British Columbia in 1969 and his Ph.D. (Inorganic Chemistry) in 1974. He has over thirty-five years’ experience in managing highly motivated teams of research scientists and engineers in world class research organizations; MacMillan Bloedel, Forintek Canada Corp. and National Research Council Canada, where he was involved in all facets of research, from fundamental research to process improvement and product development.
Between1996 and 2004, he was Managing Director of the Mechanical Wood-Pulps Network of Centres of Excellence (MWPN), hosted by Paprican, one of two industry-managed networks. The Network’s research was aimed at overcoming the technical barriers limiting the use of mechanical pulps in higher value paper products.
He was instrumental in founding PAPIER, the Canadian Pulp and Paper Network for Innovation in Education and Research. A primary role is to facilitate collaborative research among university, industry and government partners to address technical challenges and opportunities in the Canadian pulp and paper industry.
Its first initiative was a successful proposal for an NSERC Strategic Research Network, SENTINEL Bioactive Paper Network. The vision is to develop critical technology platforms leading to commercial scale production of bioactive papers that will detect, capture and deactivate pathogens. In 2005, he was appointed Network Manager of SENTINEL.
He was elected a Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada in 1989.
Dr. Rafik Allem
Dr. Rafik Allem is the Research Leader of the Packaging & Consumer Products Group at FPInnovations. He received his Doctorate in Materials Science in 1986 from l’Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine, Nancy, France and held a post-doctoral fellowship at École Polytechnique, in Montréal. Since joining FPInnovations in 1994 he has led the microscopy services group and has been involved in various research projects related to the performance of paper, board and tissue products. He has pioneered the use of Scanning Electron Microscopy combined to advanced image analyses to quantify basesheet and coating structures. His current interests include developing barrier coatings and other functionalities for advanced packaging products, and exploring fibre applications in absorbent products, nonwovens and other specialty applications. He is a member of the Pulp and Paper Technical Association of Canada (PAPTAC) and Technical Association of Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI).