By Mark Rushton, Editor, PPI magazine, Graeme Rodden, Editor, Pulp & Paper magazine, Annie Zhu, Features Editor, PPI magazine, Felicia Willis, Associate Editor, Pulp & Paper magazine and Rhiannon James-Van Beuningen, Senior Vice President, Media Prod
BRUSSELS,
July 31, 2008
(Viewpoint) -
41. Kaarlo Niskanen, KCL
Kaarlo Niskanen heads up one of the foremost research and development organizations in the pulp and paper industry. Based in Finland, it is totally dedicated new developments taking place from forest to end user. The research program covers the complete papermaking value chain, including the use of printed and packaging products, to the extent that is has installed all the latest technology in printing machinery at its site in Helsinki, including commercial digital and inkjet presses. It carries out research with academic groups exploring the physical and chemical properties of papermaking fibers, fiber webs and coating layers. The knowledge is then applied by working with industrial partners to develop new products and processes. KCL’s overall aim is to improve the sustainability of pulping, papermaking, printing and packaging processes across the board. Niskanen has been active in the international paper physics research community since 1986 and has been visiting scientist to the Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, Wisconsin, adjunct professor at Helsinki University and Tampere University in Finland, and has been author of numerous technical papers.
42. Paul Trokhan, Procter & Gamble
He is considered as the inventor of through air dried (TAD) tissue. He was honored in 2006 with the Industrial Research Institute (IRI) Achievement Award. He holds more than 160 patents. His photopolymer molding templates technology is used in almost all of P&G’s bath tissue and towel production and is estimated to provide more than $1 billion in incremental profits since its introduction. The IRI cited Trokhan for “key innovations providing limitless flexibility in designing superior, low-cost efficient product tissue/towel designs that have improved many consumers’ daily lives.”
43. Roger Stone, KapStone Paper and Packaging Corporation
Roger Stone is chairman and CEO of KapStone Paper and Packaging Corporation (formerly known as Stone Arcade Acquisition Corporation), located in Northbrook, US. KapStone is a leading North American producer of kraft paper and converter of inflatable dunnage bags. He is also non-executive chairman of Stone Tan China Acquisition Corp. – a blank check company formed for the purpose of acquiring an operating business having its primary operations in the People’s Republic of China. Currently, Stone is a Fellow of the Lake Forest Academy; an Associate of Northwestern University; a Trustee on the Chicago Symphony Orchestral Association; a director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago; an Honorary Board Member of the Midwest Advisory Board of Institute of International Education; and a trustee of the Committee for Economic Development.
44. Celso Foelkel, ABTCP
If you are involved in the technical side of the pulp and paper business, the name Celso Foelkel will be a familiar one, especially if you are reading this in Brazil where he is a household name in the sector. Recognized as an expert in the field of eucalyptus, Foelkel has dedicated his career to the forestry and pulp and paper sectors. He has a long list of academic qualifications and titles to his name and is an active member of the major technical associations worldwide. He started off as the professor of pulp and paper at the College of Agriculture “Luiz de Queiroz” in Brazil. Foelkel then did a stint in industry, working at Riocell and Cenibra, but he continued to teach classes, since he was the founder of the most renowned graduate course in pulp and paper in Brazil at the Federal University of Viçosa. From 1998 onwards he decided to work on his own, as a writer and consultant with his company, Celsius Degree. He is also director of International Relations at the Brazilian technical pulp and paper association, ABTCP.
Foelkel’s address book must read like a Who’s Who of the Latin American industry, having worked with all of the leading associations, producers and suppliers in the area, along with many international outfits. He is a prolific writer and speaker and has authored over 250 papers and attended more than 500 events in the world (most of the time as a speaker or chair person). His latest offering is an online book and a newsletter about the eucalyptus which can be found at www.eucalyptus.com.br Having met Foelkel several times, PPI has always been struck at how modest and helpful he has been on each occasion. Despite his busy schedule and high level of expertise, Foelkel is willing to give his time to help people understand the technology behind the forestry and pulp and paper sectors and delivers this information in a passionate, informative way.
45. Peter Axegard, STFI-Packforsk
Axegard can be considered one of the pioneers in developing the biorefinery concept. As a result of three research programs (including the Ecocyclic Pulp Mill and Future Resource Adopted Pulp Mill, 1996-2002), fundamental research results were translated into industrial reality in less than a decade. This is the LignoBoost project that was installed at the former Wermland (now Nordic Paper) mill in Backhammars, Sweden. STFI-Packforsk recently sold the technology to Metso Power. Weyerhaeuser is interested in installing the technology in some of its US mills and has signed a licensing agreement. STFI will continue to be involved as the demonstration plant at Backhammars will remain and be used for further development of the biorefinery concept. As most people know, the biorefinery concept may revolutionize the forest products industry.
46. Pirkko Molkentin-Matilainen, President, Finnish Paper Engineers’ Association (PI)
Pirkko Molkentin-Matilainen heads up the Finnish Paper Engineers’ Association (PI) and for those readers who are not so familiar with Finnish names, it’s probably worth clarifying that Pirkko is a female name in Finland. Molkentin-Matilainen is a powerful woman in what has traditionally been a male dominated industry. Molkentin-Matilainen graduated from Helsinki University of Technology’s (HUT) Department of Forest Products. She then gained a Master of Science in Engineering, M.Sc., Pulp and Paper Technology and also holds a Licentiate of Science in Engineering, Lic.Sc. (Tech), Pulp and Paper Technology. Before joining PI in 1999, Molkentin-Matilainen held positions in R&D, funding and policy areas in the pulp and paper sector.
She has made her mark in the industry by not only rising to the top of the country’s engineering association, but also by successfully promoting the association among young engineers and on the global stage. It is increasingly important that the pulp and paper industry is able to attract talented young people and PI has organised student forums to encourage interest in the industry. PI has recently launched a papermaking wiki, http://www.papermakerswiki.com, another move which will help to attract and keep the younger generation interested in pulp and paper. Although the association is based in Finland, Molkentin-Matilainen has worked hard to forge relationships with international groups and boost the association’s profile abroad, including working with ABTCP, PAP-FOR and China Paper, among others.
47. J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter novelist
You might wonder what the author of a series of books for children is doing on the list of the world’s most powerful people in paper. Well take a look at the statistics; her last book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was 784 pages long and had a print run of 12 million copies in the US alone. A calculation carried out by some environmentally sensitive readers and experts before the print run and it was worked out that the book would have consumed 17,000 tonnes of paper equating to 253 ha of forest. An alarmed Rowling sought some advice and decided upon a mixture 30% recycled and FSC paper, for a supposed net saving of 120,000 trees. The mainstream media picked this up and the story hit the world headlines on publication of the book, bringing much needed mass consumer attention to the paper industry, its certification efforts and its efforts on sustainability.
48. Mark Wilde, Managing Director, Deutsche Bank Securities
Mark Wilde has been a familiar figure in the sector for many years and is the senior analyst at Deutsche Bank covering the paper and forest products sector. Over the last decade, he has been recognized as one of the sector’s best stock pickers. Mark is no stranger to rankings and he appears regularly on investment and financial website listings as a top ranked analyst for the forest products industry. He is also a regular member of Institutional Investor’s All-America Research Team and has been ranked #2 in the Greenwich Survey for paper and packaging.
It goes without saying that the main reason that Wilde is on this list is because he has the power to influence the investors’ view of the forest products sector. Turnover among analysts in the forest products sector has traditionally been high as they tend to move on to “sexier” industries to cover, but there are several who have chosen to stick with the industry for the long haul. Wilde is one of those people and the reason he sticks out among the analyst crowd as an influencer is because he is opinionated, vocal and not afraid to tell it to the industry like it is. If you haven’t had a chance to catch Wilde speaking at an industry event, try to at least once as it is worth it just to see the faces of the producers in the audience.
49. Anne Brunila, Finnish Forest Industries Federation (FFIF)
Worldwide, three of the top ten forest products companies are Finnish, signalling just how important forests and wood are to that country. Anne Brunila is the first woman to head up the FFIF which is instrumental in helping to improve the competitiveness and profitability of the forest based sector by strengthening its operating conditions and building its positive image both in Finland and abroad. Brunila came from outside the industry, and has a fantastic record of being a steady hand at the tiller in stormy times.
50. Mikael Nilsson, IKEA
Word has it that more IKEA catalogues are distributed than bibles on a worldwide scale. Last year 191 million copies of the catalog were printed in 56 editions and 27 languages. Inter-IKEA, owner of all material rights for the company is the purchaser of catalogs, design, paper, print and binding and buys around 150,000 tonnes/yr. Nilsson is one of the chief buyers at the company.
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