Paprican, Canadian universities launch wood, fiber quality analysis facility EvaluTree

Kleanthis Economou

VANCOUVER, B.C. , January 26, 2007 (press release) – Ian de la Roche, CEO of Paprican, and David McDonald, VP of Research and Education, are pleased to announce the official opening of EvaluTree, Canada's state-of-the-art wood and fibre quality analysis facility.

EvaluTree is a new addition to Canada's research capabilities and is the result of a strategic investment decision made by the Canadian pulp and paper industry, the BC government, and the federal government. Funded by the BC Knowledge Development Fund, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and Paprican, EvaluTree provides forest industry researchers of today and tomorrow with a unique suite of cutting-edge wood and fibre analytical tools and applied technologies. This comes at a time when the industry is seeking to develop transformative technology platforms which will revitalize the sector across Canada based on the unique characteristics of Canadian fibre.

"EvaluTree has already allowed us to significantly speed up our efforts to address the issues in the pulp and paper industry caused by the mountain pine beetle infestation in BC," said David McDonald, "and with the installation of SilviScan, allows us to work within a global network of wood quality experts, which includes Europe and Australia."

EvaluTree's primary role is to provide research capacity in wood and fibre analysis and it will work to extend its collaboration to researchers within Canada. Providing advanced tools like SilviScan, environmental scanning electron microscopy, and multi-photon confocal laser scanning microscopy, researchers will be able to explore the interaction of fibres with the environment, within a paper sheet or through a process.

Paprican would like to acknowledge the support of its members, the CFI, and the BC Knowledge Development Fund, and would like to thank its partners, the University of Northern British Columbia and the University of Victoria, for their ongoing collaboration.

About Paprican

Paprican, the Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada, is a leading not-for-profit research and technology institute that provides valuable technology transfer and cost-competitive research addressing both the short-term and strategic needs of its members. Its research programs are driven by the high-priority technical issues of the industry such as product quality and value, cost competitiveness, environment and sustainability. Internationally recognized for excellence, Paprican operates laboratories in Quebec and British Columbia, and is well positioned to offer services to the global pulp and paper industry.

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