Dr. Behnam Pourdeyhimi, Professor of Materials in the College of Textiles at North Carolina State University, has been named recipient of the Leadership and Service Award and Dow Chemical Company Prize awarded by TAPPI’s Nonwovens Engineers and Technologists (NET) Division. The award recognizes an individual for outstanding leadership and exceptional service which have resulted in significant and demonstrable benefits to the Division's members. The award will be presented at the PaperCon 2014 Conference Awards Dinner on Tuesday, April 29, 2014 in Nashville, TN, USA. LINK 

“Dr. Pourdeyhimi has been a tireless and dedicated member whose efforts have provided great benefit to TAPPI and its members over the course of highly successful career in academia and research,” notes Larry N. Montague, TAPPI President and CEO. “He’s made significant contributions to the nonwovens industry as a notable and highly respected educator of many of today’s scientists as well as a highly effective researcher and manager. He’s a superb choice for the Leadership and Service Award.”

The William A. Klopman Distinguished Chaired Professor of Materials in the College of Textiles at North Carolina State University, Pourdeyhimi is also Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Associate Dean for Industry Research and Extension. He’s the Founding Executive Director of the Nonwovens Institute. Previously he taught at the Georgia Institute of Technology and served on the faculty at the University of Maryland.

His research interests include responsive fibrous systems, filtration, computational modeling, materials, failure mechanisms, software algorithms,optics and image analysis. He has published widely on numerous subjects and holds more than 30 patents. He has a PhD from the University of Leeds.

He’s the recipient of several awards including the Distinguished Achievement Award by the Fiber Society, TAPPI Technical Achievement and Hollingsworth Award and INDA’s Lifetime Technical Achievement Award. He’s served as the President of the Fiber Society and is a Fellow of the Textile Institute in the United Kingdom.