November 15, 2020
Nurturing the Youth

 
The two biggest areas of corruption in our mills are the engineering and purchasing departments. I know of what I speak; I have watched it for nearly fifty years. I chronicle much of it in the book "Pulp Rats" available on Amazon.

I recently saw an announcement of a young person in a pulp and paper university program taking an intern position for this coming summer in a mill that is known for corruption. The executive director of that school program is a good friend of mine. I called him up, suggested he have a talk with this young person about what they might run into when they get to that mill. I can easily see a summer session in a mill for a naïve young person ruining them for life.

Now, if you are a corrupt older person, this column is absolutely worthless to you--you are likely going to keep doing what you are doing. But if you are an engineering with ethics, I encourage you to watch the young people that enter your department, take them aside and give them guidance in this area. Help them start down the path of a fruitful career.

What is your opinion? Drop me a line at jim.thompson@ipulpmedia.com. I would like to hear from you.


 
Young Engineering Manager of the Year, call for nominations

We are looking for an individual who has done an extraordinary project, one that almost defies belief. Its extraordinary features can be schedule, technology, cost or all three. There is an age limit on the manager eligible for this award: they must be under 35 years old when they completed the project.
 
We have often gotten nominees that go something like this, "I nominate Joe because he has done a great job of running our engineering department for the last fifteen years." Quite frankly, we are not interested in such nominees.
 
However, if you know someone who has led a very exceptional project in the recent past (the last two or three years) and meets our age requirement, we want to know about it. We want to honor them and hold them up as an example for Engineering Managers in every pulp and paper mill around the world.
 
Just send your nomination, with as much details as you can provide, to jim.thompson@ipulpmedia.com. We will seriously consider it.
Current Patent Activity is available here.


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Please write when we tickle your brain cells! Email jthompson@taii.com