Industry professionals and young professionals were recognized and awarded for their outstanding leadership and contributions to the Corrugated and packaging industry during the esteemed Tappi CorrExpo 2023.

Additionally, five college students received scholarships to help support their continuing studies supporting packaging careers.

Here are some of the highlights:

Chris Krumm, David A. Carlson Leadership & Service Award: Krumm recently retired as Vice President of Production at Greif, Inc., after a long and productive career in the corrugated industry. From 1980 to 1996, he worked for the Langston Corporation Division of Molins Machinery in positions ranging from Production Electrician and Electrical Supervisor to Manager of Engineering, and finally as Vice President and General Manager for William Staley Company, also a Division of Molins Machinery.

From 1996 –2002, he served as Vice President for Sales, and Marketing for BHS Corrugated and then from 2002 to his recent retirement from Greif as Vice President of Production.

An active TAPPI member since 1990, Krumm has served on the Corrugated Packaging Council (CPC) and the Supplier Advisory Council, as well as on the TAPPI Board of Directors. He was named a TAPPI Fellow in 2017.

During his long and industrious career, Krumm has been awarded eight patents related to the manufacturing of corrugated board and has published nine articles related to the statistical analysis of corrugated board and the fundamentals of rotary die cutters.

He received his A.S. in Electrical Engineering from Camden County College, his B.S. in Industrial Technology for Rowan University and his M.B.A. from Loyola University.

Krumm said he was humbled and grateful to so many professionals he has worked with over the years.

“I was really blessed at a young age to go, ‘If I don’t stay relevant, I won’t stay employed,’” he said.

“This organization, this melting pot of wonderfully dedicated people, this is the greatest opportunity to understand those emerging technologies that are coming out.”

Ed Stuczynski, TAPPI Outgoing Division Chair, Appreciation of Leadership of Corrugated Divison: Stuczynski is the Director of Engineering at Menasha Packaging Company, LLC of Neenah, Wisconsin. He served as the Corrugated Division Chair from 2020 to 2023 just as the Covid pandemic was wreaking havoc all over the world and cancelling events across TAPPI. He worked tirelessly to ensure a successful corrugated division event resumed in August 2021 with a rescheduled SuperCorrExpo.

He also helped insure that last year’s Corrugated Week in San Antonio, Texas, brought together some of the industry’s best corrugators with equally talented industry suppliers.

Stuczynski has been a member of TAPPI since 2006 and an active member of Chicago TAPPI local section. He began his career at International Paper working at the Georgetown, South Carolina and Statesville, North Carolina facilities in a variety of manufacturing roles including process improvement, maintenance, engineering, and manufacturing management. 

In 2002, Stuczynski went to work for Dufrene Machinery/RAR Electric as a Project Manager. He spent that time working with the various equipment suppliers and box plants managing machinery installations. He joined Menasha Packaging in 2006 as the Corporate Engineer and has worked his way up to the Director level. At Menasha Packaging, he is responsible for capital planning and process improvement projects.

Stuczynski is a 1992 graduate of the Ohio State University. He has been a member of TAPPI since 2006 and is also currently on the Executive Committee of the Chicago TAPPI local section.

Harrison Talton, Young Professional of the Year: Talton is an Associate Scientist in Research and Development, with a concentration in recycled fiber and sustainability at WestRock. In her current role, she assists WestRock mills in solving production issues at the wet end of the paper machine.

She also helps with development, experimentation, and implementation of the increased use of recycled fiber into mill production.

At WestRock, Talton is a co-lead to the Women of Science and Engineering group, promoting and supporting the advancement of women in R&D. She is also an active participant in the Behavior Based Safety group, learning how to make the everyday workplace safer for herself and her coworkers.

Talton is a graduate of Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and joined WestRock in 2020. She joined TAPPI in 2020 as well.

Alex Boyd, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Scholarship and Terry S. Paulson Memorial Scholarship: Boyd is currently a junior at Western Michigan University. He started his collegiate career in North Carolina State University’s Paper and Chemical Engineering Program before transferring to Western Michigan University’s Paper and Chemical Engineering Program in Spring 2021.

Boyd has completed 16-months of internship with WestRock Battle Creek as a Process Engineer and a part-time Pipeshop/E&I Apprentice, a four-month Process Engineering co-op with New Indy Containerboard in Catawba, South Carolina, a three-month internship with Industrial TurnAround Corporation, an engineering firm in Raleigh, North Carolina, and will also be completing an internship with Ursa Major Technologies, an aerospace propulsion system manufacturer, as a Manufacturing Controls Engineer in their newly formed Controls Department.

He will be running for President of WMU’s TAPPI student chapter board in the upcoming semester.

Additionally, he is currently working to develop a two-day, student-led paper manufacturing training for salespersons in the paperboard industry without any paper engineering background.

Weston Cregger, Joe Diffenbacher Engineering Memorial Scholarship: Cregger is a fourth-year student pursuing a dual degree in Paper Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University.

He is an active member of the university TAPPI and AICHE student chapters and is on track to graduate in May 2024. He has 17 month’s work experience in the pulp and paper industry with Kimberly-Clark, WestRock, and New-Indy Containerboard. This summer he worked with Suzano at their North America office in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida as a Technical Service Intern.

In May, he travelled to Finland to learn about the paper industry abroad on NCSU’s bi-annual Paper International Experience.

Cregger currently serves as the TAPPI campus chapter intramural sports coordinator and a member of the AICHE competition jeopardy team.  

Abbi Mendius, Corrugated Division Scholarship: Mendius, 17, plans to go to Dunwoody College of Technology for Graphic Design and Production. She lives with her mom, older brother and three dogs.

Mendius spends time working, serving, going to church, and playing sports, including volleyball and basketball. She lives in North Mississippi and has gone to many different schools while growing up. 

She graduated from Desoto Christian Academy with a GPA of 4.0. She says she currently spends most of her time either at church or at recovery meetings. Serving others is one of her passions.

Katherine Bodenschatz, Suppliers Advisory Committee Scholarship: Bodenschatz is a fourth-year student at the University of Cincinnati. She is studying industrial design and is scheduled to graduate in April 2025. She has coopted twice at Packaging Corporation of America PCA for a total of eight months. Bodenschatz enjoys the corrugated industry’s structural design processes and will likely pursue a career in packaging following graduation. She is very passionate about her work, loves spending time in the studios with her classmates at school and is very excited to further her education thanks to the generosity of the scholarship.

Kate Ross, John O. Telesca Engineering Scholarship: Ross is a junior majoring in Chemical Engineering with minors in Paper Engineering, Computer Science, and Process Control at Miami University.

She is an active member in Miami’s TAPPI and AICHE chapters, where she serves as the current Social Outreach Chair and Secretary. She also participates and enjoys corrugated board research. Ross is also the Head Supplemental Math instructor at Miami and has supported Differential Equations and Linear Algebra for the past four semesters, while also serving as TA for Thermodynamics for the past two semesters.

Last summer, she worked an internship with WestRock at their Mahrt Mill in the recovery and powerhouse department and is looking forward to her second internship this summer. Her hope is to work in process control in the corrugated board industry in the future.

The Corrugated Packaging Division is comprised of members who work for manufacturers, converters, suppliers, consulting companies and produces a number of events designed to further the technical and educational opportunities for all industry and allied professionals.

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