Finland 2015

May 28, 2015

Thanks for the memories, Finland!

by guest blogger John Hall We got up early for our 8 am plane ride back to the States filled with excitement and new experiences.  We had a hiccup or two on our journey home, but nothing that could eclipse the experiences we will cherish forever. We met so many new friends, learned about the universities (Aalto,… 

May 22, 2015

SAPPI visit, shopping and preparing to head home

by guest bloggers Jason Frizzell and Nathan Harmon Today, May 22nd, we checked out of the hotel in Tampere at 8:00am and headed to SAPPI Paper Mill Kirkniemi. It took two hours to arrive at the mill. Upon arrival, we were greeted by Ms Satu Karjalainen and Ms Aino Kesaniemi. They supplied us with refreshments along with… 

May 22, 2015

Getting the most out of our day – TAMK, UPM and Valmet!

by guest bloggers Georgia Daniel and Josh Pippin Our day started with breakfast provided by TAMK, Tampere’s University of Applied Sciences, and a short presentation on the school and the Tampere area by Riku-Matti Kinnunen, the International Coordinator for Engineering, Technology and Natural Resources. Tampere is very much a college city with 4 universities within… 

May 21, 2015

Broadening How You Think of Paper

by guest blogger Kimberly Abrams Students gathered this morning for breakfast and boarded the bus to head to UPM Raflatac around 8:40 AM. When we arrived, we were greeted with refreshments before the company presentation. The presentation was given by the production manager and an R & D representative. In general, UPM Raflatac is a… 

May 21, 2015

VTT and Valmet

by guest bloggers Westlet Decker, Nelessa Lewis and Nathan Woods Today we left early for the VTT research center. Got lost on the way, but still made it by 9:30. Jani Lehto was our tour guide and gave us a thorough presentation on the history of VTT and major projects including bioeconomy studies, biofuels, and foam… 

May 20, 2015

JAMK and Bio Economics

by guest bloggers Ben Slaydon, Steven Gillespie and Austin Leonard Monday started early around 9:00 AM, most of the group gathered in the lobby to eat breakfast before our departure to JAMK. JAMK is the local university of applied sciences located here in Jyväskylä. After a short drive we arrived at the JAMK technology campus… 

May 18, 2015

Smoke Sauna – here we come!

by guest bloggers Moe and Nick Savage Sunday began later than the other days, with the group gathering in the hotel lobby at about 1pm. We boarded our bus and were brought to an area just outside town known as “Kangas” where there is an old paper mill. The mill has been closed since 2010,… 

May 17, 2015

Jyvaskyla here we come!

By guest blogger Jesse Swanner Saturday, May 16 was our last morning in Helsinki. In the afternoon, we had three sauna boat trips planned for the group in Jyväskylä, Finland. There had been some fear that the first group, planned for 3pm wouldn’t be able to make it to the lake in time. The ten… 

May 16, 2015

Day Visit to Tallin, Estonia

by guest bloggers Lauren Moody and Alexia Lipscomb We started the day by meeting in the hotel lobby at 8am. We took a cable car to the port. We had an hour to go explore the market before we had to get on the ferry. The ferry took 2.5 hours to get to Tallinn, Estonia.… 

May 15, 2015

Suomenlinna Fortress

by guest bloggers Stanton Wiggins and Adam Elhammoumi Many of us grabbed breakfast at different places before meeting in the hotel lobby at 10:30 to start out the third day. Dr. Rojas was waiting in the hotel lobby with us and led us to the ferry harbor, about a fifteen minute walk to the south.…