The FRC Committee
The people behind the Pulp and Paper Fundamental Research Society
The FRC Committee
Joel Panek is an R&D Scientist at Smurfit WestRock in Richmond, Virginia USA. Joel completed a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering at Michigan Technological University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Paper Science & Engineering at the Institute of Paper Science and Technology. He previously was a guest researcher at STFI (now RISE) [1999-2001] and a research scientist at Iggesund Paperboard [2001-2006]. His areas of interest include papermaking, paper mechanics, corrugating, and converting. He has been a FRC member since 2006 and FRC Chair since 2018. Joel is a TAPPI Fellow, secretary of the TAPPI Paper and Board Division, and TAPPI Journal Editorial Board member. He’s been awarded TAPPI Journal Best Research Paper in 2020 and 2022 and has been recognized by the TAPPI Coating, Printing, and Surface Enhancement Division for TAPPICon Best Presentation in 2024 and 2025.
Joel was appointed as Chair of the FRC and the Pulp and Paper Fundamental Research Society on 31 January 2018.
Dr. Coffin is a Professor in the Chemical, Paper, and Biomedical Engineering Department of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he has resided since 2002. From 1994-2002, he was a faculty member at the Institute of Paper Science and Technology. Prior to entering the paper industry, he worked as an engineer with the General Dynamics Corp. His degrees were earned at the University of Delaware. In 1999-2000, Dr Coffin spent a year as a guest researcher at STFI. Dr. Coffin’s research focuses on the mechanical response of paper and paperboard in converting and end-use. He was awarded the Van den Akker Prize in 2001, the Gunnar Nicholson Award in 2026, and named a Tappi Fellow in 2026. He served as Programme Secretary for the 17th, 18th Fundamental Research Symposia.
Petri Mäkelä - Proceedings Editor
3PAQ Engineering
Petri Mäkelä is the founder and CEO of the company 3PAQ Engineering, based in Uppsala, Sweden. Petri completed his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and his Lic. in Paper Mechanics at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. He has previously worked as a research manager and research scientist at STFI (now RISE) [2000-2011] and held R&D specialist roles at Tetra Pak [2011-2014] and BillerudKorsnäs (now Billerud) [2014-2019]. Petri was awarded the Van den Akker Prize in 2011. His major research interests involve the mechanics of paper materials in manufacturing, converting and end-use situations.
Janet Preston now works for Artemyn Minerals, and has previously worked in IMERYS Minerals for over 30 years in the areas of coatings and minerals research, including paper coating, paper filling, paints and inks and in printing science.
Whilst working at Imerys Janet graduated from University of Plymouth with an honours degree in Applied Chemistry. She then gained a PhD in Chemistry with the Interface Analysis Centre, University of Bristol, where she studied ink and coated paper interactions. Janet has over 100 publications in this area. She is currently a senior scientist in Artemyn R&D and is working in the areas of paper, board, pulp & printing.
In 2007 Janet was appointed as an Adjunct Professor (Docent) at Abo Akademi University in Finland. She is a Chartered Chemist & Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Janet has been awarded a position as a Tappi Fellow in 2024.
Bill Sampson is Professor of Materials Modelling in the Department of Materials at the University of Manchester and Director of Manufacturing and Advanced Materials in the University’s innovation unit, Unit-M. He received his degrees in Paper Science from UMIST where he began lecturing in 1992. His primary research interests are in the modelling and simulation of the structure of heterogeneous materials systems and understanding the influence of these on materials properties with a view to influencing these in manufacturing processes. Within paper physics, these interests focus on the statistical geometry of fibre networks in two and three dimensions, the characterisation of stochastic textures, and the influence of sheet structure on mechanical and transport properties. Bill was Programme Secretary for the 13th, 14th and 15th Fundamental Research Symposia.
Warren Batchelor is a Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Following his PhD, he spent two years in Vancouver working as a Postdoctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia Pulp and Paper Centre in the area of LC refining. His major research interests are in the area of characterisation and application of cellulose nanofibres, mechanics of nonwoven networks and fibres and fibre mechanical treatment. He is a the current chair of the Standards Australia committee developing and maintaining standards for the pulp and paper industry. His publications are available here
Markus Biesalski received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Mainz in 1999, while working at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research. From 2000 until 2002 he was postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara. From 2002 until 2008 he was Assistant Professor and head of a Emmy Noether Young Investigator group at the University of Freiburg, Germany. Since 2008 he is Professor and Chair for Macromolecular Chemistry and Paper Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany. Since 2021 he leads the scientific board of the Modellfabrik Papier gGmbH in Düren, Germany. Since 2026 he is spokesperson of the newly established Collaborative Research Center CRC1767 “Paper - with tailor-made properties to new applications” at TU Darmstadt. With his group he focuses on combining polymer science & paper chemistry, to develop innovative and sustainable materials, with fields of application progressing from coatings to construction materials and paper-based microfluidics.
Retired
John is the former FRC Treasurer and has been involved with the management of the FRC since 1998. John was responsible for organising the 2009, 2013 and 2017 Symposia but is now taking a “back seat” and purely acting as an adviser to the FRC Chair.
Ulrich holds a Master’s degree in industrial engineering, followed by a PhD in paper science at Graz University of Technology in 2006. After a brief stint at SCA R&D Centre in Sundsvall Ulrich returned to Graz, where he took a tenure track position and eventually became full professor for paper and fiber technology in 2018. Ulrich’s research interest is centered on fiber- and paper mechanics, adhesion, paper-liquid interaction and - more recently - pulping technology.
Retired
Steve was appointed firstly as a post-doctoral researcher and then as a lecturer (1987) in the Department of Paper Science, UMIST. In 1992 he joined Scapa Paper Machine Clothing (now Voith) following research and consultancy involvement with the company over several years. He returned to UMIST in 1999 and, due to a merger in 2004, became a lecturer in the School of Materials, University of Manchester, eventually taking early retirement in 2011. Research interests are based around practical papermaking applications of scientific principles. In particular, the use of image analysis to study the surface, structure and strength of paper and board, de-watering during wet pressing and dimensional change during drying. Steve was Chairman of the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th Symposia but has now stood down from this role.
University of Agriculture and Engineering
Ryota Kose is currently an associate professor at the Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. He holds a Master's degree and a PhD in Agriculture from Kyushu University. He then worked at Hokkaido University for two years as a postdoctoral researcher and has been working at his current university since 2013. He was engaged in nanocellulose research until his post-doctoral period and has been conducting pulp and paper-related research since 2013. His research focuses on the application of nanocellulose in the field of paper production.
Mark Martinez is a Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada. Following his PhD, he spent four years in Stockholm working at STFI in the area of papermaking. He returned to Vancouver in 1999 to take up his current position. His major research interests are in the area of experimental and computational fluid mechanics.
Wenhao Shen is a Professor in the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Papermaking & Paper-based Materials, South China University of Technology. She obtained Bachelor's degree in Automation Control from Sichuan University in 1989, Master's degree in Process Control from South China University of Technology in 1992, and followed by a PhD in Pulp and Paper Engineering from South China University of Technology in 2000. From 2004 to 2005, she had stayed one year in Nancy, France, where she served as a visiting scholar at the National Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering (ENSIC, CNRS) at the National Center for Scientific Research.
She is a member of the International Society of Pulp and Paper Science and Technology, representing China, and has actively participated in various academic committees and conferences, including serving as a committee member of the Program Committee for the 33rd to 35th Chinese Control Conferences. Her research endeavors are focused on following areas: (1) Modeling of paper structure and paper property prediction; (2) Carbon footprint analysis and intelligent control of pulping and papermaking processes; (3) Preparation, performance, and mechanism study of nano gas/humidity-sensitive sensors.
Daniel received an MSc in Vehicle Engineering (1994) and PhD in Fluid Mechanics (1999) at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm. He was employed at STFI/Innventia from 1999 to 2014, ultimately as Senior Research Manager and Deputy Director of the business area Material Processes. During 2008–2014, he was an Adjunct Professor at KTH, and in 2014 he joined KTH full-time. Daniel is presently Professor in Processes for fibre-based materials at KTH and, since 2023, Head of the Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology. He has also served as Director of the Swedish national research platform Treesearch since 2018, and founder of the startup company CelluXtreme.
His research concerns materials and production processes for fibre-based materials, with particular focus on multiphase flows, nanocellulose assembly, nanostructure control of soft materials, process metrology, and the transport of water, ions and nanoparticles in charged nanofibrillar networks. Daniel is active within the Wallenberg Wood Science Center, and has led major collaborative programmes including BiMaC Innovation. He is a member of the Royal Academy of Engineering Sciences, was Chairman of the Pulp and Paper Fundamental Research Society from 2013–2018, and is holder of several patents, including the Aq-vane technique, which received the ATIP gold innovation award in 2004.
Åbo Akademi University
Martti Toivakka is a full professor and head of the Laboratory of Natural Materials Technology at Åbo Akademi University, Finland. He received his doctoral degree in chemical engineering in the area of paper chemistry in 1998. His research focuses on paper and barrier coating, functional coatings, and the use of paper as a substrate for printed electronics and sensors. He has (co-)authored over 200 peer-reviewed scientific publications, was the recipient of 2016 TAPPI Coating and Graphic Arts Division Technical Award and the Charles W. Engelhard Prize and appointed as TAPPI Fellow in 2019. He has organized and been the chairman of TAPPI Advanced Coating Fundamentals Symposium and the European Coating Symposium, both held in Turku, Finland. Furthermore, he has arranged numerous international short courses for industrial professionals and doctoral level students, including the most recent one, “Fundamentals of barrier technology for fibre-based packaging”, held three times during 2023-24.
Seoul National University
Hye Jung Youn is a Professor in the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources at Seoul National University in Seoul, Korea since 2002. She received her Ph.D. from Seoul National University in 2000. Following her doctoral studies, she worked at Hansol Paper Co. for approximately two years before joining the faculty at Seoul National University. Her research focuses on paper and cellulose engineering, with a recent emphasis on the modification and application of cellulose nanofibers.