AU Engineering Center Changes Name and Focus

Auburn University's Pulp and Paper Research and Education Center has changed its name. The center in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering is now known as the Alabama Center for Paper and Bioresource Engineering (AC-PABE).

The name change underscores a redirection in the center's education and research programs that better reflect the future of the pulp and paper industry as a bioresource and bioproducts-based industry. Today's pulp and paper mills will become tomorrow's biorefineries, producing an array of value-added chemicals, fuels, energy and paper from renewable forest feedstocks. AC-PABE is already engaged in a number of cutting-edge research programs to advance emerging technologies.

The undergraduate chemical engineering specialization in pulp and paper engineering has also been recently renamed to pulp, paper and bioresource engineering. The new name describes more clearly the course work that prepares students for the emerging bioresource industry.

Harry Cullinan, director of AC-PABE, characterized the name change as "signaling Auburn's firm resolve to lead a significant sector of Alabama's manufacturing base to a new level of productivity and profitability. This will help secure employment for many thousands and providing challenging and rewarding career opportunities for Auburn engineers."

In partnering with the Department of Chemical Engineering, AC-PABE is pursuing a research and education strategy based on four major thrusts: biotechnology, molecularly engineered paper structures, energy systems and sustainability. Projects are underway on the bioconversion of woody biomasses, nano-functional paper structures, catalytic conversion of bio-based syngas and process systems engineering in forest biorefineries.

For more information please contact Cullinan at 334.844.2016; cullinan@eng.auburn.edu; or 242 Ross Hall, Auburn University, AL, 36849.