The Renewable Bioproducts Institute (RBI), is a research institute at the
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
. Founded in 1929 as the Institute of Paper Chemistry in
Appleton, Wisconsin, it moved to
Georgia Tech's campus in 1989, and integrated its operations with the university on July 1, 2003, known then as the Institute of Paper Science and Technology (IPST). In 2014, the IPST became the Renewable Bioproducts Institute.
The organization is a link between Georgia Tech and the international
paper industry; it focuses its research on pulp and paper processes, refining forest biomass into sustainable
fuels, and creating new
biomaterials in order to open new markets.
History
Since the late 1800s, paper-making has been a vital industry in
Wisconsin. Not formally trained in paper science, early workers in the industry generally relied on
apprenticeship programs. In 1919,
Samuel G. Plantz, the president of Lawrence College (now
Lawrence University), worked with
Monroe A. Wertheimer
Monroe or Monroes may refer to:
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* James Monroe, 5th President of the United States
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* Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorporated community and census-designa ...
, president of the
Thilmany Pulp and Paper Company (and a trustee of Lawrence College) to plan a night school for paper mill workers.
[ Wilhoit, p. 6] Plantz envisioned workers from local paper mills teaching specialized classes, and a program that would include a partial
liberal arts curriculum to create a "well-rounded individual".
[ Wilhoit, p. 7]
There were delays in starting the school, primarily financial in nature; Plantz had estimated that it would require $200,000 to $250,000 to construct a building, purchase equipment, and hire professors. Plantz died in 1924; and his interim successor, Wilson Samuel, had a brief tenure. The next president of Lawrence College,
Henry M. Wriston, pushed the idea forward;
along with
Ernst Mahler, who was then the vice president and general manager of the
Kimberly-Clark Corporation in
Neenah, Wisconsin.
[ Wilhoit, p. 8] Mahler, then known for research in
cellulose chemistry, had emigrated from Austria to work in the United States and establish one of the first research labs in the industry. He was able to acquire the financial support of 19 pulp and paper companies that encompassed 90 percent of the state's paper industry
and in 1929 IPST was founded as the Institute of Paper Chemistry in
Appleton, Wisconsin.
The school moved to a spot on Georgia Tech's northwest campus in 1989. On July 1, 2003, the IPST merged with Georgia Tech; and on September 1, 2003, the institute received a new director,
William J. Frederick Jr.
William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conqu ...
, who received a corresponding faculty appointment in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in the
Georgia Tech College of Engineering
The College of Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology provides formal education and research in more than 10 fields of engineering, including aerospace, chemical, civil engineering, electrical engineering, industrial, mechanical, m ...
.
It was re-envisioned as a more direct link between the paper industry and Georgia Tech faculty and researchers.
References
Works cited
*
External links
Official websiteGeorgia Tech's Institutional Repository including digitized papers from the IPC, IPST, and Renewable Bioproducts InstituteBooks about the Institute of Paper Chemistry in the Lawrence University Library's circulating collection
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