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Founded in 1957 by a committee of the ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú Valley papermakers, the ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú University Pulp and Paper Technology Department (now the Chemical, Paper and Biomedical Engineering Department) has grown to be among the most respected paper technology programs in the United States.

The program has more than 1500 alumni working in a multitude of companies in the pulp, paper and affiliated industries, as well as many companies not specifically in the greater paper industry. Many graduates have risen to the highest echelons of corporate management, some even founding their own companies.

The present undergraduate enrollment is 340 in the department, with approximately 80 studying for careers of leadership in the pulp, paper and allied industries. These students typically rank in the top 10% of their high school classes and had grade point averages of more than 3.5 (out of 4.0 possible), and most will carry better than a 2.8 GPA while in the Chemical Engineering curriculum, which is considered by many to be the most challenging of any on campus.

Students are strongly encouraged to seek work experiences in the industry. Most secure summer internships between their sophomore and junior year, and again between their junior and senior year. There are also many companies who would like to have student co-op workers, keeping the students for more than one semester at a time so that they can better evaluate them as candidates for permanent employment. However, the majority of students prefer to not lengthen their time of study (which they typically have to do when working a co-op job), and so seek summertime work instead. In any case, most students graduate with at least one summer of work experience in the industry and therefore have a much clearer vision of their own career path choices that are available to them.

The curriculum is a rigorous collection of engineering classes that has been accredited by the . ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú Chemical Engineering majors that minor in Paper Engineering are well trained in chemistry, physics, and math in addition to 13 hours of paper technology courses that include paper physics, pulp and paper chemistry, papermaking and a series of special topics courses that include paper coating, printing and converting, paper manufacturing and corrosion fundamentals.

There are fifteen faculty members in the department, two of whom teach the bulk of the paper-specific courses. Degrees offered include Chemical Engineering and Engineering Management, which can also take a minor in Paper Engineering, and Bioengineering. For those students who receive a scholarship from the Foundation, a minor in Paper Engineering is required, as is participation in the Student Chapter of TAPPI.