TAPPI Awards Duane Smith

The Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industries (TAPPI), an association for the worldwide pulp, paper, packaging and converting industries, recently awarded Duane Smith, product manager of Specialty Winding for Davis Standard Converting Systems, with the 2008 TAPPI PLACE Division Technical Award and the Rohm and Haas Prize. The award is presented annually by the association to recognize outstanding accomplishments or contributions that have advanced the industry's technology. The Rohm and Haas Prize is a financial stipend of $1,000 from an endowment fund created by specialty materials company Rohm and Haas.

Smith is widely recognized for his more than 50 informative presentations, as well as many published works. Among his most notable accomplishments, TAPPI lists: 27 technical presentations and four new technology showcases at TAPPI Conferences; facility member at nine TAPPI short courses; editing and writing contributions for the first and second editions of the TAPPI publication "Roll and Web Defect Terminology;" multiple leadership positions including TAPPI Conference Chairman in 1991 and chairman of various technical and awards committees for the past 20 years; two U.S. patents in the winding area; 26 technical presentations at AIMCAL, CMM, SPE and other technical conferences; published 16 times in major trade journals; and authored section on winding of flexible films in 2007 Modern Plastics World Encyclopedia.

The award was presented by Larry Montague, president of TAPPI, at the association's annual conference held this fall in Portsmouth, Va.