Panel Discussion/Paper Machine Design, 20 Years from Today, 1992 Engineering Conference Proceedings
In September of the year 2012 most of the panel members will be retired, together with most of the people in the audience. Those who are not yet retired will be thinking about it.
To appreciate this very large time span forward, let us try to look back at what happened in the past twenty years. What prognosis would experienced engineers have made in 1972, for the period which is now history.
Remember, twenty years ago, "peace was at hand," an energy crisis was before us, inflation and interest rates would become enormous. We thought that the U.S. had a huge solid waste problem, which could perhaps be addressed by recycling of resources, perhaps with the "Fibreclaim" system, based on paper process technology.