IPST awarded three prizes totaling $20,000 to students competing in the 2013 Georgia Tech Research and Innovation Conference (GTRIC) on Feb. 12.  All three winning students are PhD candidates in the Georgia Tech Paper Science and Engineering graduate program.

Qining Sun received the $10,000 Institute of Paper Chemistry Foundation (IPCF) Award as a participant in the Innovation Competition. The IPCF Award is given to the top student in the Innovation Competition whose research project advances the horizons of the forest bioeconomy. His project is entitled, “Comparison of Changes in Cellulose Ultrastructure During Different Pretreatments of Poplar.” Qining’s advisor is Professor Art Ragauskas, Chemistry and Biochemistry. Further information about Qining and his research will appear soon on the IPST website.

Two George W. Mead Awards of $5,000 each were presented to Lester Li and Jie Wu, for their entries in the GTRIC poster competition, which had more than 300 graduate student competitors this year. Lester and Jie were selected based on work that represents innovations in forest bioproducts research. Lester’s project is entitled, “Superoleophobic and Superhydrophobic Surfaces on Paper.” His advisor is Associate Professor Victor Breedveld, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Jie’s project is entitled, “Chitin-based Bio-Inspired Optical Coating Materials for Sustainable Paper and Paint Industry.” His advisor is Associate Professor Carson Meredith, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.

The object of IPST’s involvement in the competition is to stimulate innovations in forest bioproducts, including advances in manufacturing technologies. The topic areas include innovations in pulp and paper, biomaterials, biofuels and chemicals that advance the horizons of the forest bioeconomy.

“Congratulations to all three winners for their fine research toward advancing the forest bioeconomy,” said Norman Marsolan, IPST director. “We also thank the IPC Foundation and George Mead for providing funding to stimulate research that serves the goals of our industry and IPST.”