Valmet Automation Field Trip Showcases Industry 4.0 Technologies

Students enrolled in the Spring 2023 course Emerging Technology in Forest Bioproducts (offered by the College of Engineering – ChBE and ME 4730/8803) visited the Valmet Automation Center in Norcross, GA in April. With faculty members Carson Meredith and Chris Luettgen, who teach the course, the visiting group consisted of both undergraduate and graduate students from the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Material Science and Engineering at Georgia Tech.

The students got an opportunity to see Valmet’s vision for the Factory of the Future through automation and predictive control – Industry 4.0 in some vernacular, and were given an introduction to Valmet as a company and the multitude of career pathways available at the company. Valmet is headquartered in Espoo Finland and develops and supplies process technologies, automation, and services for the pulp, paper, and energy industries. The automation systems and flow control solutions offered by the company serve a wide base of process industries and was the focus area of the field trip.

The Emerging Technologies for Forest Bioproducts course is a required course for RBI Fellowship students and part of the Georgia Tech Pulp & Paper Foundation & Certificate Program. The course focuses on the future of the bioproducts industries so that students may see where the bioeconomy is headed. Case studies on the use of biomass in production of value-added products, including fluff pulp and dissolving pulps, alternative fibers, specialty papers, packaging and printed electronics, biorefining technologies, nanocellulose and bio composites, and renewable polymers are covered in the course.