IPST Director Norman Marsolan attended the Marcus Wallenberg Prize ceremony and symposium October 1-2 in Stockholm, Sweden. His Majesty Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden, presided at the gala dinner. The prize was established in 1980 through a donation from the shareholders of Stora Kopparbergs Bergslags AB in honor of the company’s retiring chair, after whom the prize is named. This year, the recognition was awarded to Mika Viljanmaa for his work on “Resource-Saving Metal Belt Calendering.”

Marcus Wallenberg, grandson of the founder and current chair of the Wallenberg Foundation as well as chair of SEB of Stockholm, introduced the symposium. The theme of the scientific event was “Efficient Fibre Utilization—A Response to the Global Wood Supply Situation.” Laureate Viljanmaa presented his research. Other reviews included “Forest Sector Transformation: Maximizing Value from Canada’s Forest Resource,” by Forest Products Association of Canada executive vice president Catherine Cobden; “Multi-Layer technology in Paper-Making,” by Daniel Söderberg of Innventia; and several others. Videos of the events can be accessed at http://mwp.fabrik618.se (click on Symposium 2012).

In reflecting on the meeting, Marsolan mentioned speakers’ repeated references during the course of the sessions to the forest products industry’s conservatism. Several speakers with financial expertise urged the industry to look more critically at new investment possibilities, and to be more willing to take prudent risks. Speakers acknowledged the need to be good stewards of corporate capital while noting the need to respond to the changing future marketplace.

IPST professor Art Ragauskas also attended the dinner.