Recruiting in the Adirondacks

Mr. Ray Appleby (Manager, Pilot Operations) and myself made the trip to Warrensburg for the fourth year in a row to recruit at the DEC camps that are held there each summer.  The camps consist of high school students aged 15-17 from all around New York State.  A total of eight weeks of camps are held with each group of 50 students at camp for a week.  We will be presenting at two camps this year.

The camps are held at the Pack Demonstration Forest, one of the properties owned by SUNY-ESF.  The college leases the camp facilities to the DEC for the summer in order to hold the camps.

We gave a presentation called "Engineering, Physics, and Chemistry:  The Secrets of Money," which discusses the various techniques of papermaking, chemistry, and printing used in producing our currency to prevent counterfeiting.  The presentation also provides information about the college and particularly the programs in Paper and Bioprocess Engineering while entertaining the students with a variety of demonstrations of chemistry, engineering, and physics (Yes, we do set off a small explosion).  We leave the students with material about our programs and college. 

 

 

 

 

We are feel this to be an effective recruiting tool as we are able to reach high school students all over the state at one time and have had students visit ESF as a result of this presentation.

New Students for Fall

This fall, we will be welcoming 33 new undergraduate students (as of today) to the Department of Paper and Bioprocess Engineering at SUNY-ESF.  This represents the largest incoming class of new students over the past ten years. 

Eleven of the new students are enrolled in the Paper Engineering program, which is accredited by Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.  This program prepares students with a chemical engineering curriculum that is focused primarily on the paper and allied industries.  However, previous graduates of the program have also gone on to work in other industries.  Of the eleven students entering, nine are freshman and two are transfer students, with all of them coming from New York State.

Twenty-two students are enrolled in the Bioprocess Engineering program, which is our new program that started in 2006.  This program, which can be described as "chemical engineering without the petroleum," is focused on process and product engineering from sustainable resources and using ecologically-sound technology.  Nineteen freshman and three transfer students will be entering the program, with two of them coming from outside of New York State.

The entering freshman come highly qualified, with an average SAT score (verbal + math) of 1160 and a high school average of 90.0.  These scores mirror almost exactly the entire freshman class at SUNY-ESF.  The average SAT score of college-bound students that took the SAT in 2007 was 1017 (www.collegeboard.com) indicating that the students entering our programs (and ESF) are ready for college.   The five transfer students entering the programs had an average GPA of 3.44 at their previous institution.

We are looking forwarding to welcoming these new students in the fall.

Class of 1958

Our program in paper engineering has been in existence since 1920, making it the longest-running paper engineering program in the United States.   It was our recent pleasure to welcome back the Paper Science and Engineering Class of 1958 as they returned to SUNY ESF to celebrate their 50th Reunion. Many activities were available for their participation and we are grateful they were able to tour Walter’s Hall with many sharing their remembrances of their student days. Mr. George Treier mentioned recalling when his company (Xerox) donated the small paper machine.  Thank you to Xerox for their gift to Walter’s Hall and to the students who have benefit ed from their generosity.

R to L: G. Hunt, C. Hunt, R. Dykes, G. Treier, H. Parker, H. Gore

Returned to Syracuse

After 24 hours of traveling and three plane flights, we have returned to Syracuse and home.  Timothy is staying a bit longer to visit Hong Kong and Alan flew directly home to Boston.  The only remaining task is to readjust for the time difference, since China is exactly 12 hours ahead of the Eastern United States.  As I am typing this on Friday morning, my body is telling me that it is late evening and time for bed. 

With our return, the story of our international experience to China for the Department of Paper and Bioprocess Engineering comes to a close.  However, the blog will continue with other news and events in the department.  Please stop by occasionally to see what is happening in the department.

Our Final Day in Beijing (and China)

Our trip is nearly coming to an end; early tomorrow morning we head to the Beijing Airport for our flights back to the United States (except for Timothy, who is going on to Hong Kong for a few days).  While Dr. Liu and I visited the Beijing University of Forestry, the students had a free day which they spent exploring on their own and doing some last minute shopping. 

The final challenge of the trip will be to repack the bags with all the souvenirs and gifts that have been purchased.  It has been an incredible trip for the students and the faculty advisors alike.  We wish to thank all the people that helped us along the way to make this trip possible and unforgettable.

This final set of pictures are from the streets of Beijing.  It is  quite amazing what can be transported on a bicycle other than just people (and sometimes it is just people).

  (A cartload of stuff)

(A baby on the back)

(A boy in a car seat)

(A large sign???)

(A girlfriend and shopping bags)

 

The parks are often gathering places for the young and the old alike.  This gentleman is flying a kite on a 50 ft wide boulevard between two busy streets. 

 

Chinese chess is another popular game in the parks along with simply going for a walk.

For our final dinner, we gathered at a restaurant for a dinner of Beijing Duck, and of course several other dishes.  Here we are for our final China picture in front of the restaurant.

Most of us will be arriving in Syracuse on Thursday evening at 8:23 pm, flying our of Beijing and through Tokyo and Detroit.  Alan is flying directly to Boston while Timothy is going to Hong Kong for a few days before returning to the United States.  While we enjoyed our time in China, many of us are looking forward to our return. 

The Great Wall

The second destination today was the Great Wall of China.  At one time, the Great Wall stretch for over 10,000 km and was built to prevent invasion from the north by the Mongols.  Although it was a rainly and foggy morning, we braved the wall to make our ascent to the highest watch tower.

This portion of the wall is called the Juyongguan Pass and is near Badaling, the most popular destination for visitors to the great wall.  The wall climbs over a 1100 feet in elevation at this point in just over one-half mile.  This represents an average grade of over 40%.  The ascent consisted of steps, inclines and periodic watch towers.

Looking back from the second watch tower, you can get an idea of just how steeping the wall rises at this point from the river valley below.

The highest watch tower on this point on the wall is being defending by Dennis, Steven, and Timothy.

The views from the top were simply incredible; we could only wish that the weather had been a bit clearer.

 

Two hours was not enough time to explore a great deal of the wall.  If you come, you should plan on spending at least a day here exploring different aspects of the wall.

Ming Tombs

The third and final day of our excursions in Beijing took us to the Ming Tombs and the Great Wall of China.  The tombs are a large complex of many tombs in one area.  The main tomb is Emperor Yongle's Tomb located centrally in the complex.  He was the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty in the early 1400's.

Inside the main structure was a museum that contained replicas of many of the items found in the tomb.  The centerpiece of the museum was a large statue of the emperor sitting on his throne.  

The back of the statue had the dragon, which represents the emperor.

On the centerline from the gate to the tombs and mausoleum is the Gate on the Threshold of Stars.  Only the emperor could pass through this gate towards the mausoleum, and then only after he has died.  It is considered the threshold from one realm (the world) to another (heaven).  However, passing through it on the way back (by the living) is considered to bring good luck.

Many of the trees at the tombs are over 300 years old.  This tree is the oldest tree on the site, and now needs to be supported to keep it up.