TAPPI along with the pulp and paper industry are sad to report that Willem (Bill) Nikkel passed away on January 26, just two days short of his 95th birthday. He was born in Mojokerto, Indonesia, and later served in the Dutch army. Nikkel emigrated from Amsterdam after college and worked in the paper industry in Montreal. In 1960, he relocated to the U.S. to work for West Virginia Pulp & Paper (Westvaco) as an engineer and scientist in Covington, VA. He spent the rest of his career with Westvaco, assisting paper mills and box plants in the U.S. and also subsidiary companies, such as Rigesa, in Brazil.
In May of 1949, Nikkel earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from MTS Heerlen, Holland. He began his career in Technical Sales working for Renold Chain. In 1953 he began as a Packaging Engineer for Northern Electric, followed by a position as Development Engineer for Bathurst Containers. From 1960 until his retirement in 1993 Nikkel was a Development Engineer, Group Leader and Research Associate with Westvaco's Corporate Research Department. Since his retirement he has remained active in the industry doing selective consulting work, including consulting for Harper Love Adhesives and Stickle Steam from 1993. He holds nearly 20 patents in the United States and abroad.
A TAPPI member since 1961, Nikkel became a TAPPI fellow in 1982 and served on TAPPI's Board of Directors from 1984 to 1987. He joined the Division's Engineering committee in 1961 and was Chairman of that committee from 1968 until 1970. Nikkel participated in many workshops and panel discussions, published technical articles in TAPPI Journal and has spoken at technical conferences. He also was an active member of the CID warp study team. He received the Corrugated Division Technical Award and Bettendorf Prize in 2022 and received the Division’s Lifetime Achievement award in 2006.
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