Looking To The Future

Welcome to the Department of Wood and Paper Science at NC State. 

There is a great future ahead for students and professionals in the growing fields of forest biomaterials and bio energy as well as in the more established fields of pulp and paper or wood products. The Department of Wood and Paper Science at NC State is here to help these students and professionals thrive as they chart a course through these exciting and diverse fields.

The Department’s students, faculty and staff include world leaders in education, research and extension efforts  focused on wood as a raw material for production of innovative pulp and paper materials, wood products and housing, and wood as a source of biomaterials and bioenergy.  Our faculty is proud of our long history of excellence in teaching, undergraduate research and hands-on learning.

Our Department offers undergraduate students two accredited degrees, Paper Science & Engineering and Wood Products.  Many of the Paper Science & Engineering students also earn a second, fully accredited, degree in Chemical Engineering.  Undergraduate students also frequently earn minors in business, industrial engineering and mechanical engineering.  Due to the outstanding support of our alumni and friends we are able to offer more than 140 scholarships to outstanding undergraduate students each year.
Our close collaboration with a wide variety of industrial partners in the pulp and paper, biomaterials and bioenergy, wood products and housing all offer students real-world cooperative, internship and summer job opportunities.  These programs include jobs around the U.S., in Canada, China, Finland and Japan, to name just a few recent examples.  We also sponsor overseas and study aboard experiences in China, Finland and South Africa.

Our Department provides a unique learning environment that focuses applied science, engineering and business skills on wood as a sustainable resource. Our students graduate with the technical skills, hands-on experience and judgment they need to make an immediate, positive impact in North Carolina, the Southeastern U.S. and around the world. They take jobs in the pulp and paper industry, large and small wood products companies, suppliers of chemicals and resins, engineering companies, and developing biomaterials and biofuels companies.

Our research and graduate education programs are recognized as premier programs globally.  Twenty one full time faculty, and a number of very active Emeritus and adjunct faculty cover a wide variety of fundamental and applied research programs as well as extension activities.  The hallmark of our research and graduate program is its interdisciplinary nature, an approach that creates a unique learning environment.  Research programs include

• Molecular aspects of forest biotechnology,
• Chemical and engineering processes for transforming wood into materials and energy,
• Paper making, recycling and characterization,
• Innovative processing and characterization of wood products,
• Sustainable wood-based housing materials, and
• Creative business process for valuable wood-based products.

Graduate students can develop research programs in these areas or work with a specific faculty member to create their individual interdisciplinary program.

Our wood products extension and our industrial outreach programs support North Carolina’s wood products business community and the pulp and paper industry.  Our wood products extension and educational programs support North Carolina’s primary and secondary wood products manufacturers, the furniture industry  and wood-base housing. We also have a number of additional industrial outreach programs, including a internationally recognized Hands-on Workshop for Pulp and Paper Basics, other short courses that serve the pulp and paper industry, technical services centers for pulping, paper testing, paper recycling, chemical analysis, testing wood and laminates and custom designed programs that serve the needs of specific industrial partners.

Please use this website to further explore the wide range of programs, projects and opportunities offered by the Department of Wood and Paper Science.

Sincerely,
Dr. Steve Kelley, Ph.D.

About Us

• Mission Statement
• What We Do
  • Paper Science & Engineering
  • Wood Products
  • Forest Biomaterials & Bioenergy
• Kelley Message
• History
• By The Numbers
• Contact Us
• Virtual Tour

Key Contacts