The Arne Asplund Mechanical Pulping Award 2014 granted to Professor Per Engstrand

Valmet Corporation's press release on March 31, 2014 at 12:00 p.m. EET

The Arne Asplund Mechanical Pulping Award promotes the development of new technology for the manufacture of high-yield pulp. It is awarded to a person or persons in recognition of outstanding achievement in research and development of mechanical pulping technology.  

The 2014 award has been granted to Professor Per Engstrand, at the Mid Sweden University. Engstrand has been active within the field of mechanical- and chemi-mechanical pulping throughout his professional career.

Engstrand's early work focused on the influence of chemistry on fiber properties and energy consumption. The effort to reduce the specific energy demand has ever since been a theme in his research, a successful research approached from both academic and industrial viewpoints. Focus of the research has always been increasing understanding of the behavior of fibers in the refiner gap. Interaction with surrounding processes and the potential for system optimization are important parts of this research.

Engstrand graduated at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH Stockholm) in 1980 as a M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering and received his Licentiate of Engineering Degree in Cellulose Technology in 1984. He has served in various positions at Swedish Forest Products Laboratory (today Innventia), Holmen Braviken mill, Beloit Millpro Nordics/J&L Fiber Services Northern Europe and Holmen Paper.

Arne Asplund Mechanical Pulping Award Foundation

The Arne Asplund Mechanical Pulping Award Foundation was established in 1985 to commemorate Dr. Asplund's contribution to the pulp and paper industry worldwide. The Award was made possible through a donation from the Sunds Defibrator Company, currently part of Valmet, to the foundation in 1985. The Chairman of the Foundation is Professor Göran Bengtsson from Stora Enso.

The award will be presented on June 4, 2014, at the Finnish Paper Engineers' Association's (PI) 100th anniversary gala evening in association with the PulpPaper 2014 event and the International Mechanical Pulping Conference in Helsinki, Finland.

VALMET CORPORATION

Corporate Communications

Further information, please contact:
Thomas Granfeldt, Senior process manager,Pulp and Energy Business Line, Valmet, tel. +46 70 630 33 93

Valmet Corporation is a leading global developer and supplier of services and technologies for the pulp, paper and energy industries. Our 11,000 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward - every day.

Valmet's services cover everything from maintenance outsourcing to mill and plant improvements and spare parts. Our strong technology offering includes entire pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bio-energy production.

The company has over 200 years of industrial history and was reborn through the demerger of the pulp, paper and power businesses from Metso Group in December 2013. Valmet's net sales in 2013 were approximately EUR 2.6 billion. Valmet's objective is to become the global champion in serving its customers.

Valmet's head office is in Espoo, Finland and its shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd.

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