The Agenda 2020 Technology Alliance, Washington, D.C., USA, is now accepting registration for the two open forums of its project, Technologies for Advanced Manufacturing of Pulp and Paper Products. The project is intended to identify breakthrough technologies to enhance the industry’s sustainability and competitiveness, and to develop advanced materials from forest biomass. It is supported by a federal grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Advanced Manufacturing Technology program.

 

The sessions will be held in Atlanta and Chicago, soliciting inputs from all stakeholders, followed in 2015 by collaborative preparation of six detailed roadmaps that define paths for research and implementation. Two broad categories of technological need and opportunity—sustainable manufacturing and advanced biobased materials—will provide an overarching focus for the project.

 

The Atlanta event will be held November 18 from 8 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Atlanta Marriott Perimeter Center, 246 Perimeter Center Pkwy. NW, Atlanta, GA 30346. Registration is available online.

 

The Chicago event is scheduled December 10 from 8 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Spring Hill Suites, 8101 Higgins Rd., Chicago, IL 60631. Registration for this event is also available online.

 

Comments may also be submitted online.

 

Agenda 2020 was selected last May for funding by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for a project to map pathways to develop advanced technologies for pulp and paper manufacturing. The grant was awarded under the highly competitive Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMTech) program.

 

The project leverages extensive work by Agenda 2020 members and partners over the last year to identify and screen opportunities for major reductions in energy consumption and treated water.

 

The Agenda 2020 Technology Alliance is an industry-led consortium that promotes development of advanced technologies for the pulp and paper industry. 

 

AMTech, as an integral part of the U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Initiative, is focused on developing advanced technologies to address major technical problems to spur the growth of advanced manufacturing in the U.S., and to identify and prioritize research projects addressing long-term industrial research needs and opportunities. The AMTech awards will create industry-led, shared-vision technology roadmaPs for the development of technologies underpinning next-generation and/or transformational innovations.

 

More information is available online, or by contacting David Turpin. executive director of Agenda 2020.