Division Name Change: We Are Now the Forest Bioproducts Division

In April 2008, AIChE approved our proposal for an updated name. We are now the Forest Bioproducts Division of AIChE instead of the Forest Products Division. We worked with other divisions within AIChE and with AIChE leadership to make this transition and avoid confusion, while seeking to better emphasize our historical activities around bioproducts. For years, the Division has been sponsoring programming on bioproducts, biomass, biofuels, etc. After all, the forest products industries, especially the pulp and paper industries, have long relied on recovered energy from biomass and have been at the forefront of extracting value from lignocellulosic materials. For example, much of the technical know-how in conversion of cellulose to ethanol has come from engineers and scientists in forest products, such as the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, which began work on obtaining ethanol from cellulose roughly one century ago. Now we have adjusted our name to better reflect who we've been for a long time.

The 2008 Annual Meeting

We have some exciting programming on forest bioproducts topics slated for the Annual Meeting, which will be held in Philadelphia, Nov. 16-21, 2008. Preliminary programming for our Division (Div. 17) currently includes the following sessions:

17001 Forest Biorefinery Processes: Wood Extraction & Processing for Biofuels and Biobased Products
17003 Economic Analysis of Biorefinery Products & Processes & Lifecycle Analysis
17004 Improvements to Existing Combustion Technologies In Biomass Fuels
17005 Processes in the Forest Products Industry: Separations and Transport.
17006 Biobased Material Composites: Processes and Product Applications I
17007 Biobased Material Composites: Processes and Product Applications II

The 2007 Annual Meeting

The 2007 Annual AIChE Meeting was held in Salt Lake City, Utah, Nov. 4-9, 2007. Energy was a key theme at this conference, consistent with much of our programming. Dr. Lei Kerr of Miami University kindly prepared a detailed compilation of Division sessions and other activities and sessions of interest (PDF format, 13 pages). Here is a brief listing of the sessions we sponsored:

We also worked with the CAST Division (Computing and Systems Technology) to provide a session on Intellectual Assets in the Digital Era.

We had a Division Dinner, right after our Annual Business and Planning Meeting. The dinner was held at one of Utah's most historic restaurants, Lamb's Cafe Grill. Over 20 people were at the dinner. Lots of fun!

Forest Bioproducts Division Offers Webinars!

To supplement the technical content we provide at the Annual Meeting and to reach more people, we are now offering regular Webinars on a variety of technical topics of interest to our members. Our first Webinar is scheduled for October 24 and deals with nanotechnology in the forest products industry. See our 2007 Webinar Series page for details and to register. Registration is free and this Webinar is open to the public. Future Webinars may have members-only features, such as access to slide materials and white papers only for Division members. So if you're not in the Division, sign up online today at AICHE.org. It's inexpensive and we are working to make it well worth the annual fee.

2007 Division Leadership Update

After six years of service as Chair and 13 years of service as a Division leader, Dr. Chris Verrill has stepped down. Many thanks to Dr. Verrill for dedicated service for so many years! Two elections have been held in the past year to replace officers, resulting in a new group of leaders. Visit our leadership page to see who the leaders are. To learn more about the newly elected officers from the 2006/2007 elections, see our "meet the new leaders" page.

Our Purpose

The Forest Bioproducts Division fosters sharing of technical knowledge about forest bioproducts, biorefineries, many technical aspects of the pulp and paper industries, and associated technologies involving cellulose and other forest products. We provide technical sessions, Webinars, and networking opportunities to promote these areas and help engineers and scientists advance their skills, knowledge, and capabilities. We also coordinate with other divisions dealing with related areas to strengthen AIChE's role and to promote the exchange of ideas and knowledge.

The Division has been evolving to be increasingly focused on renewable bioproducts, including biorefineries and other engineering issues involving bio-based materials that go beyond forests per se to also include biomass issues, etc. Take a look at our technical program (below) for 2007 or 2006 to get a feel for these directions.

There are about 150 members in the Division representing academia, industry, and other groups. The most visible work of the Division is in sponsoring and organizing multiple technical sessions at national AIChE meetings, often collaborating with TAPPI and other groups. These technical sessions provide forums for the exchange of information about new technical developments in the forest bioproducts industries.

Upcoming changes for the Division include the introduction of regular Webinars from technical experts and others to increase the opportunities for Division members to stay on top of this rapidly evolving field. An annual meeting just isn't enough to meet the needs of Division members, so stay tuned on information about Webinars and other opportunities.

2006 Annual Meeting a Huge Success!

The 2006 Annual AIChE Meeting in San Francisco (Nov. 12-17, 2006) was the largest in history, with about 4,400 attendees and over 700 sessions. It may have been our most successful technical program ever, with large audiences attending many of our sessions. One of the biorefining sessions, for example, had around 300 people attending. Other sessions showed much higher attendance than we experienced in the past. Further, the Division appears to be more visible and more recognized within AIChE itself. The 2006 Annual Meeting Guide for Forest Product Division Members (a PDF file prepared by Dr. Lei Kerr of Miami University of Ohio) shows the sessions we sponsored and related sessions of interest. Topics such as Green Materials and Wood Biorefineries, and Process Engineering of Biobased Products generated significant interest. The Division has been on the cutting edge of the green engineering area, providing sessions on these topics long before they become so popular.

Details about our efforts at other past AIChE Annual Meetings from 2000 to 2006 are available on a separate page about past technical sessions. (Photographs from the 2003 Annual Meeting are also available, including some highlights of a couple Forest Products Divisions sessions.)

Biorefineries, biomass processing, and other green topics are extremely hot now - and the Forest Bioproducts Division has been ahead of the curve on these topics for years. Thanks largely to the vision of one of our members, Dr. Amar Mohanty of Michigan State University, the Forest Bioproducts Division has been offering technical sessions on biorefining and related green topics for several years, often teaming up with other divisions. Special thanks also go to Dr. Bandaru V. Ramarao of SUNY Syracuse for his service as Program Chair for helping to create such an extensive program for us.

The Division formally recognized Dr. Mohanty for his service this year with the Andrew Chase Forest Bioproducts Division Award, now a formal AIChE Award (see details in the sidebar at the right). Dr. Chris Verrill, Chair of the Division, presented this year's award to Dr. Amar Mohanty, Associate Professor of Materials Science in the School of Packaging at Michigan State University and Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Biobased Materials and Bioenergy.

The award was presented at the FPD Business Meeting on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2006, in the San Francisco Hilton Hotel. In presenting the award, Dr. Verrill made the following additional remarks:

The Forest Bioproducts Division has backed your vision of programming bio-based materials sessions since 2002 and at the 2005 meeting it really paid off in terms of the level of people you attracted both to the podium and audience. (And it paid off again with even greater participation in 2006.) The attendance during the 12 papers in your 2005 sessions was outstanding with representatives of several varied industries in the audience.

As a session chair, you have set a high standard for communication with your speakers and level of professionalism in running the sessions and encouraging discussion. You deserve commendation for your demonstration of excellence in this volunteer role and for your vision of a new programming area that has steadily grown over the last five meetings. Thanks to you we were a year or two ahead of the other divisions, Now everyone seems to be programming sustainable/bio/nano/green multidisciplinary sessions! And so, it is my honor to present this award, including a check from AIChE, to Dr. Amar Mohanty.

Many thanks also to our Division Chair, Chris Verrill, for his twelve years of service in the leadership of the Forest Products Division. We are in the process of holding an election to bring some additional support into the leadership ranks to help reduce the burden that Dr. Verrill has so capably borne over these years.

The 2007 Annual Meeting may be even better. Larger facilities will permit even more sessions and higher attendance. It will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, Nov. 4-9, 2007. Taking advantage of the expanded infrastructure of Salt Lake from the Winter Olympics, we expect the 2007 Annual Meeting to be highly successful and to offer a tremendous way for chemical engineers and related professionals to network, strengthen their skills, and enhance their careers. Joins us in Salt Lake!

Message from the Past Chair

Dear Members of the AIChE Forest Products Division,

If you are new to the Forest Products Division (FPD) of AIChE; welcome! If you have been a member for a while, thank you for sticking with us through a period of reduced activity. Recent consolidation of trade conferences has limited opportunities for presenting leading-edge work related to the forest products industries. At the same time, academic efforts have advanced bio-based product research, forest biorefinery process development, and material science and engineering fundamentals at the molecular level, a.k.a., nanotechnology. More than ever before the FPD can support the evolution of our industry by providing a forum for presenting these new developments.

I am committed to leading a Division transformation to better meet member needs. To do this, I need your input, and urge you to get involved.

I look forward to an exciting [Annual] meeting and welcome your involvement in the Division.

Christopher L. Verrill

Past Chair, Forest Products Division Tel: 404-894-1083
September 9, 2005

To contact any of the other leaders of the Division, please see our recently updated page of Leaders of the Forest Bioproducts Division.

This is the official home page for the Forest Products Division of AIChE. It replaces the old AIChE FPD home page.