Lignocellulosics

Dr. Filpponen received his master's degree (2003) from the University of Helsinki majoring in organic chemistry, and his doctoral degree in wood & paper science (2009) from the North Carolina State University (NCSU) at Raleigh, United States. After a short postdoctoral period in NCSU he joined Aalto University at 2010. He has authored and co-authored nearly 30 peer-reviewed papers, 50 conference contributions and 2 book chapters. His present research is focused on the chemical modification of cellulosic substrates to produce new and advanced functional bio(hybrid)materials.

Dr. Maria Soledad Peresin got her Licenciate in analytical chemistry in 2007, from Universidad Nacional del Litoral (Argentina) where she got her formation on pulp and paper chemistry, working in the Institute of Cellulosic Technology at the School of Chemical Engineering (UNL). In 2011, she obtained her Ph.D. on Forest Biomaterials degree from North Carolina State University (United States) where she focused her research on the study of electrospun nanocomposites reinforced with cellulose nanocrystals. During her doctoral studies, she spent 6 months (2010) as a visiting scholar at the Department of Forest Products Technology, Aalto University (Finland) working with nanofibrillated cellulose-based nanocomposites. Right after graduation, she joined VTT, Technical Research Centre of Finland as a researcher in the Functional Fibre Products Knowledge Team. Currently, she continues her work at VTT as a senior scientist on the field of surface chemistry on lignocellulosic substrates, with main focus on nanocellulosic materials. She is currently focusing on the development of new value-added materials based on renewable biomass. To date, she has co-authored 18 peer-reviewed scientific contributions, 3 book chapters, 2 invention disclosures and more than 35 international conferences. She is actively involved in a number of scientific organizations and activities of relevance for the field of pulp, paper and forest biomaterials of international reach. Dr. Peresin has participated in the organization of several events and symposium relevant to the field. She performs as Chair of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Finnish section since year 2013. Her research interests include biopolymers chemistry, analytical chemistry, nanocomposites, nanotechnology and materials, polymers and surface science.

Dr. Nypelö received her master's degree from the Tampere University of Technology (Finland) 2007 in Fiber Materials Science and her doctoral degree 2012 from Aalto University (Finland) majoring in Forest Products Chemistry. Immediately after, she joined North Carolina State University (USA) first