Editorial: To paper and beyond at the University of Minnesota, TAPPI JOURNAL October 2017

549 In this column, TAPPI Journal spoke with Dr. Shri Ramaswamy of the University of Minnesota, where he is a professor in the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering (BBE). He holds an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Paper Science and Engineering from the State University of New York (SUNY) in Syracuse, as well as an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Syracuse University and a B.S. in Physics and Pulp and Paper Engineering from the University of Roorkee, India. Dr. Ramaswamy also has more than nine years of experience in the paper industry in various capacities, including process engineering, chemical applications technology development, and process research and development. Since joining the University of Minnesota in 1995, Ramaswamy has seen significant growth in what was then the Department of Forest Products, with Paper Science and Engineering as one of the areas, and is now the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering. Here, he discusses the evolution of this department and his personal research interests in the areas of bioproducts from lignocellulosic biomass, as well as structure-property relationships in porous media, especially bio-based materials.