Live @ Student Summit 2025 - Ep. 1 "Papermaking is a Miracle"

This episode was recorded on-site at TAPPI's 2025 Student Summit in St. Petersburg, FL. More than 300 attendees—including pulp and paper engineering students from 13 different universities—enjoyed panel discussions, a Career Fair, and Engineering Challenge, and so much more. We asked students to "take the mic" to host their own interviews and share their unique voices.

First up, Western Michigan University students Parker Langellier and Toby Archer interview Dr. Med Byrd, Professor and Undergraduate Coordinator for the Paper Science and Engineering program at North Carolina State University.  "The paper process is very unique, very specific, and—let's face it—delightfully funky," Dr. Byrd tells our hosts, as they explore what makes pulp and paper such an amazing career choice.

Next, veteran Student Summiteers Tanner Stogner and Michael Reuss interview first-time Summit attendees Conyers Preveaux and Gavin Knight. All four are students at Auburn University in Auburn, AL. As one student comments, "You see familiar faces all around. It's really nice that we have 300 people here and we all want the same thing: to grow our industry." 

This is the first of two episodes hosted by student volunteers at the 2025 Student Summit. Make sure to Subscribe to Better Together so you won't miss the next episode!