co-sponsored by NC State University and TAPPI

Upcoming Course Dates:
March 16-20, 2026
June 8-12, 2026
October 19-23, 2026

Information and Registration Website: go.ncsu.edu/papershortcourse

Location: North Carolina State University Campus, Pulp and Paper Laboratory, Raleigh, North Carolina

An integral service that the Paper Science and Engineering program serves is outreach to the industry. The paper program and faculty provide short courses, technical service, consulting, and research projects as part of this outreach.

Integral to this has been the Hands-on Workshop for Pulp and Paper Basics offered on campus three times a year, attended by people from all parts of the world working in paper associated industries.
The present-day course provides a broad overview of Pulping, Bleaching, Chemical Recovery, Recycling, Papermaking and Converting and includes presentations of paper processing and paper properties in the morning and hands-on laboratory and pilot-plant exercises in the afternoon. Students receive a course notebook rich with practical industry experience with over 400 pages of reference materials. The course has a social and personal aspect to it; students and faculty come together for lunches, a banquet and a social event and learn from each other in a relaxed setting.

The Hands-on Workshop has had a very long history. The catalyst that started the course was a manager at Weyerhaeuser Plymouth mill who complained that he had to send his employees to Maine for a paper short course and wondered why NCSU could not provide one. Dr. Hasan Jameel and Ben Chilton worked to initiate the course. Weyerhaeuser supported the initiative by sending 10 students to the earliest courses. To differentiate the course from the University of Maine’s course, which was
one week and touted a lobster dinner, NCSU produced a much more technically deep course over a two-week period. Contributions in teaching were from Hasan Jameel, Hou-min Chang, Tom Joyce, Heinz Olf, John Heitmann, Med Byrd, and Adrianna Kirkmann.

The first week was lectures on pulping and bleaching and the second week were lectures on paper recycling, papermaking and paper properties. At the time, each week consisted of about 40 hours of lecture. Lectures were delivered from overhead projection machines with transparencies. Participants could sign up for one of the two weeks or both. Imagine having 80 hours of lecture in a two-week period in a hotel meeting room with no windows and bad temperature control. The faculty noticed quite a bit of fatigue in the students and started to incorporate more hands-on activities to combat this. Initially, on each Wednesday, the lectures would stop at 11am and there would be hands-on activities in the afternoon. Students responded very positively to the hands-on aspects.

In the early 2000’s the course had morphed into its present-day structure of one week with lectures in the morning and labs in the afternoons. The afternoon lab activities were made hands-on, for active learning. Students viewed fibers through a microscope, took samples from a centrifugal cleaner,
measured Kappa numbers, measured consistencies, coated paper, made handsheets, tested paper, performed flotation deinking, and did image analysis. In addition, kraft pulping and pilot plant paper machine runs were conducted in which the students could see, feel, smell, and hear the processes.

Another important change in the course was the addition of the Technical Association of Pulp and Paper Industries as the co-sponsor of the course. The association with TAPPI enhanced the reputation visibility of the paper program to the entire industry. TAPPI contributed significantly by
marketing the course to its 10’s of thousands of members. Initially, paper brochures were mailed out to targeted industry members in the thousands from a TAPPI mailing list. This improved registration numbers. Eventually the brochures were replaced by TAPPI marketing including emails, TAPPI
digital calendar on the website and other conference and publication outlets.

The course has had ups and downs that went right along with the industry. In the late and early-2000s during recessions the number of students attending the course was as low as eight. Currently the course sells out its 42 spots on a regular basis. During the height of the COVID break-out the course was halted and a live distance version of the course was offered through internet channels.

Along the way, it is estimated that over 2500 people have been trained through the courses. It has contributed about half a million dollars directly to the department in overhead. It has consistently been ranked as one of the top short courses in TAPPI. Attendees have come from interesting industries including the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing, environmental Protection Agency, insurance companies, fast-food chains, enzyme suppliers, major computer and cell phone manufacturers, food, tobacco, medical devices, office supply and many other businesses. Some of the attendees have ended up as graduate students in the paper program or sent their children to NCSU.
Current instructors include Professors Jameel (pulping and recovery), Byrd (papermaking), Pawlak (papermaking and paper properties), Venditti (paper recycling), Gonzalez (industry trends and non- woods) and Pal (papermaking, converting and printing).

Additionally, the short course has been taken on the road for company specific training. International Paper in Riegelwood North Carolina was one of the first companies to conduct in-mill training. The in-mill course was so successful that the training was done three times in that mill. In-mill training at pulp and paper manufacturing sites has also been conducted in other locations in NC, Virginia, Georgia, Indiana, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Jersey, Washington, New York, Mississippi and
others. Globally, courses have also been conducted in Brazil, Finland, Taiwan, and Indonesia, sometimes with live translations. The course has been provided on-site to paper machine clothing and equipment manufacturers, cigar manufacturers, large e-commerce companies.

The course has also been offered many times in abbreviated forms to K-12 students and disadvantaged college students. Supporters of these courses have included Burroughs Wellcome, the USDA, NC State University (summer camps) and Eastman Chemical Company. Several of these students have enrolled in the paper program and have had successful careers in the industry. The great thing about the courses is that they bring different people from different companies together
and they learn from one another. Additionally, NCSU faculty are exposed to questions from students that involve critical and timely challenges to the industry. It is truly a win-win for the paper program and the industry.

For questions related to course content or tailor-made in-mill company short courses, please contact Dr. Richard Venditti (919) 515-6185 or richardv@ncsu.edu. For questions related to registration, payment and sponsorships, please contact Mr. Connor Geraghty at clgeragh@ncsu.edu.