PIE Spain, T-minus two weeks and counting!

In two weeks, 32 Juniors and Seniors will depart on a once in a lifetime trip to Spain. This trip is a biannual adventure which allows our students to immerse themselves in the paper industries of countries around the world. Previous Paper International Experiences (PIE) have taken students to China, Finland, Chile, and Brazil. This seventh occurrence of PIE will venture Spain for the first time! During the 10-day trip, students will gain a better understanding of the differences in culture, markets and technology of the industry abroad. Experiences like this help create more well-rounded students that give valuable and insight to their jobs in the industry here in the US.

Thanks to our department’s extensive connections with industrial partners, we have a wide variety of mills and locations that we plan to visit. The trip will kick off upon landing in Madrid and touring the International Paper mill in Madrid. We will then have the opportunity to sightsee in Madrid before continuing our grand excursion around Spain including stops in Barcelona, San Sebastian and Bilbao. Students will tour kraft mills, recycled linerboard mills, and specialty paper mills. The Capellades Paper Mill Museum and the Guggenheim Museum are other destinations on the trip.

The PIE trip is year after year a huge talking point around the department. New and prospective students are always told about the legendary trip as something to look forward to as they progress through the program. For the upperclassmen, it is a light at the end of the tunnel from a treacherous junior year, after finally finishing up Senior design, or even after successfully making it all the way to graduation after 4+ years.

Personally, I have been looking forward to the trip ever since I joined the program. It is an opportunity like no other to get out of the country, for many people, for the first time, to not only see all the tourist attractions, but also to see the paper industry in a whole new light. It may encourage some to want to work in foreign mills or others, it may give them inspiration to bring ideas home to the US. On behalf of the 40 students venturing on PIE 2019, I am asking if you would consider donating to PIE? The all-inclusive trip will cost $3500 per student and through generous donations from department friends and industry partners we hope for the trip to only cost $1500 per student. This allows students from many backgrounds to be able to participate in the trip. Our goal is to raise $70,000 in order to subsidize part of the cost for each student. A PIE Donation of any amount would be greatly appreciated by everyone involved with the trip.

We are very excited to broaden the education of our students in the pulp and paper industry. We are grateful to be able to put on this trip for yet another year and for many generations of future students!

By Student Blogger Allison Hellwig