John Neun is an engineering consultant who spent a substantial part of his career with Albany International and Kadant. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and is a licensed Professional Engineer in New York State. He has surveyed and analyzed hundreds of paper and tissue machines to find means of improving their efficiency. In addition to overall system analysis, John has demonstrated particular expertise in vacuum systems, water systems, fabric cleaning systems, forming systems, and presses. He has worked in the paper industry since 1979, first as a Research Engineer with Albany Felt Company, studying and developing wet felt performance and felt dewatering devices. He spent several years as a Service Engineer for Albany Felt, performing vibration analyses on most of the high-speed machines in the United States and many more throughout the world. John also had a long tenure at Kadant - AES, where he was Cleaning and Conditioning Product Manager and Design and Development Manager. Before AES, John spent five years working for Mechanical Technology Incorporated, an engineering consulting firm, where he gained a wide range of vibration analysis experience in rotating machinery, structures, and acoustics, instructed in a course on FFT spectrum analysis, and led a number of multi-million dollar projects.
John holds six U.S. patents and has published many technical papers (for TAPPI, ASME, SME, and the U.S. National Bureau of Standards). John is a Tappi Fellow and is past Chairman of the Papermaker's Committee and Water Removal Committee as well as the Paper and Board Division. He has received the Leadership and Service Awards from both the Tappi Engineering Division and Paper and Board Division, and the Tappi Engineering Division Technical Award.