A group of 17 IPST students recently toured paper-making operations at the International Paper Company mill in Rome, Georgia, under the direction of Professor Sujit Banerjee. Mill officials presented a program and overview, after which the students put on hard hats and safety gear to walk through major areas of the plant to view the pulp and paper production.

“I believe it is important for students involved in paper science and engineering to see the actual processes and the industrial environment to fully understand the relationship of paper-making to their laboratory research at Georgia Tech,” Banerjee said.

The Rome mill’s paper machines produce various weights of linerboard for cardboard boxes. The mill operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and its output is shipped primarily to another International Paper Company box plant to be made into corrugated cardboard for boxes.

One student commented after the tour, “Seeing everything on such a large scale helped me understand the difficulties faced in running the mill continuously while minimizing downtime.”

Another student observed, “I can now put pictures on all the facilities we had seen in class, and it is easier to follow the process and understand the issues they are facing.”