Faculty Experts

Our People Are Our Greatest Asset

Our people are recognized worldwide for their cutting-edge research in advanced manufacturing, novel forest-based biomaterials, paper science and processes, renewable chemicals and energy, business processes and innovation, and sustainable materials and technology. We are a research powerhouse with an ecosystem built for achievement and collaboration. Our research teams are cross-disciplinary and are often comprised of experts from a variety of fields within Forest Biomaterials, the broader College of Natural Resources, other colleges at NC State and representatives from government agencies, the private sector, industry or other universities.

Get to know some of our amazing departmental faculty

• Dimitris Argyropoulos – Specializes in the organic chemistry of wood components, developing new chemistry for transforming the carbon in trees into valuable chemicals, materials, and energy.
• Med Byrd – Specializes in mechanical, chemical and non-wood pulping and bleaching, as well as agricultural residue processing.
• Hou-min Chang – Specializes in the chemistry of lignin, pulping and bleaching processes, and pollution abatement in pulp and paper mills.
• Ronalds Gonzalez – Specializes in conversion economics, and the analysis of finance and supply chain processes.
• Martin Hubbe – Specializes in chemical paper additives, colloidal chemistry affecting dewatering, charged nature of cellulosic materials and dry strength development.
• Hasan Jameel – As a Jordan Distinguished Professor, he specializes in cost-effective methods for upgrading lignin to develop a more profitable biorefinery, specifically by converting biomass to bioenergy and biomaterials.
• Steve Kelley – Specializes in sustainable production of energy and materials from biomass and the application of novel analytical tools to biomass.
• Michael Kocurek – Specializes in pulp and paper technology, paper properties, and stock prep refining.
• Frederik Laleicke – Specializes in wood physics and durability, mass timber products, and wood recycling.
• Nathalie Lavoine – Specializes in nanocellulose-based advanced materials, active and intelligent packaging, and sustainable materials processing.
• Lucian Lucia – Specializes in green chemistry, fiber and polymer science, environmental sciences, materials science, renewable polymers, and chemical modification of cellulosics for biomedical applications.
• Phil Mitchell – Specializes in value-added wood products and lean manufacturing processes.
• Lokendra Pal – Specializes in sustainable materials science and engineering, functional coatings, digital printing, printed electronics, 3D printing, and lean six sigma processes.
• Sunkyu Park – Specializes in lignocellulosic biomass reactivity, hemicellulose chemistry and cellulose crystalline structures for dissolving pulp application.
• Melissa Pasquinelli – Specializes in fibrous and biopolymeric materials, environmental chemistry, interfacial engineering, molecular modeling.
• Joel Pawlak – Specializes in engineering multiphase materials, including porous fibrous web structures, foams, natural super-absorbents, enzymatic manipulation of material structure, nano-scale fiber composites, and novel application of rheological phenomenon.
• Perry Peralta – Specializes in wood physical properties, wood mechanics, statistical process control, and the development of novel forest biomaterials through the application of non-woven technologies.
• Ilona Peszlen – Specializes in wood anatomy and properties, the effects of environment on wood and fiber properties, genetic improvement of wood quality and properties, and utilization of plantation wood.
• Richard Phillips – Specializes in strategic business practices, leadership and critical thinking in the pulp, paper, and forest product industries.
• Rico Ruffino – Specializes in industrial and product design in the area of design thinking, development, and prototyping with a concentration in sustainability.
• Daniel Saloni – Specializes in process improvement, supply chain, biomass and bioenergy conversion.
• David Tilotta – Specializes in housing and analytical chemistry, chemical contamination and decontamination of wood and the development of analytical methodology for the detection of organic and inorganic components in wood.
• Richard Venditti – Specializes in the processing and utilization of natural polymers in new products and fuels, the fundamentals of separation science in fiber processing and the environmental life cycle analysis of products.