Research Opportunities

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Outstanding Research Support

Graduate student research efforts at NC State are significantly aided by the University’s strong emphasis on original research, its many public and private partnerships, our large number of free-standing research centers devoted to wood, paper and pulp interests and WPS’s outstanding research facilities. These facilities include major laboratories; a pilot plant size paper machine capable of making 12-inch wide paper; numerous smaller testing and environmental laboratories; and a wide area of state-of-the-art analytical equipment, including UV and IR spectrophotometers, gas and liquid chromatographs, an ultracentrifuge and vapor pressure and membrane osmometers. Other research open to graduate students include numerous smaller labs, NC State’s Centennial Campus facilities and the resources of the nearby Research Triangle Park.

The Role of Graduate Study In Our Research Program

Since our inception over 50 years ago, contributions to industry research and development and the education of MS and Ph.D. scientists have been major components of WPS’s history and mission. The scope of our research activity covers the entire range of pulp and paper making product properties, as well as all aspects of wood products and groundbreaking new arenas in forest biomaterials. Over the past 25 years, our faculty and students have secured competitive grants from the USDA, DOE, NSF, EPA and industry totaling over $22 million dollars. In return, they have contributed knowledge to the public domain through more than 1, 200 publications and patents. Graduate students have always played an important role in this success and continue to play a critical role in our ability to push the envelope of knowledge and discover new innovations in our fields.

Research Areas

In the past, WPS graduate students have conducted research within a wide array of fields, including the following:

  • Chemicals and materials from renewable resources
  • Renewable energy sources
  • Lignin and carbohydrate chemistry
  • Heteronuclear and multidimensional NMR
  • Pulping and bleaching chemistry
  • Biotechnology in papermaking
  • Non-wood agricultural fibers
  • Paper and wood recycling
  • Physical and colloidal chemistry
  • Wet end chemistry
  • Composite biomaterials
  • Paper physics
  • Engineered fiber and paper products
  • Wood tool design/ performance
  • Wood-moisture relations and lumber drying
  • Wood anatomy
  • Wood engineering and mechanics
  • Wood processing

Individual projects have explored such topics as:

  • Novel Chemicals and Materials from Renewable Resources
  • Lignin and carbohydrate chemistry
  • Heteronuclear  and multidimensional NMR
  • Pulping and bleaching chemistry
  • Biotechnology in paper making
  • Non-wood agricultural fibers
  • Secondary fiber and recycling
  • Water reuse
  • Physical and colloidal chemistry
  • Wet end chemistry
  • High-Performance Composite Biomaterials
  • Paper physics
  • Engineered fiber and paper products
  • High performance chemicals
  • Process modeling and simulation
  • Manufacturing process analysis
  • Mechatronics
  • Wood tool design, performance and wear
  • High speed machining and process monitoring
  • Wood-moisture relations and lumber drying
  • Wood anatomy and identification
  • Computer aided analysis and design of wood structures
  • Wood engineering and mechanics
  • Wood processing and production of wood composites
  • Lumber manufacturing and quality control
  • Rough mill improvement for value added manufacturing
  • Consumer education on the proper use of wood products
  • Waste minimization and recycling

Please review the Faculty Research section of this website for a listing of current research projects being conducted by WPS faculty and graduate students.

 

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