About Pulmac

Built on more than a half century of experience, Pulmac Inc. provides the pulp and paper industry around the world with the very best solutions for quantifying pulp fibre strength and contaminant levels.

We work with our partners to provide our clients with the most reliable, efficient, and cost-effective Zero-span and Master Screen solutions for:

• fibreline and stock prep control
• process troubleshooting
• grade labeling
• research & development

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Contact Information

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Pulmac History

1939 - WWII

During the Second World War Eli Cowan was Chairman of the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association Machine Shop Board. In this position he contributed to the war effort by coordinating pulp and paper mill machine shops across Canada in their contribution to the war effort.

These shops machined parts for gun mounts assembled in Montreal and installed on Canadian warships.

1945 - E&B Cowan Ltd.

After the war Eli and his younger brother Ben, founded E&B Cowan Ltd. Hiring engineering talent from all over the world, this Montreal company designed and oversaw construction of 40 pulp and paper mills in locations as diverse as Canada, the United States, Germany, Rumania, Finland, Brazil, Hungary and Australia. E&B Cowan organized installation of 32 paper machines, 40 steam plants, and oversaw the modernization of 29 pulp and paper mills. E&B Cowan Ltd. was later absorbed into the SNC-Lavalin group of companies.

1950 - Pulmac

Pulmac was originally established as a holding company to flow through royalty income for patents associated with equipment developed by Eli Cowan. This equipment included the venerable Cowan Screen.

1964 - Pulmac Research Ltd.

In 1964, Eli Cowan's son, Wavell, established Pulmac Research Ltd. in Montreal, borrowing the name from the original holding company owned by his father. Wavell Cowan graduated with a PhD granted by the Institute of Paper Chemistry in Appleton, Wisconsin, USA (now the Institute of Paper Science and Technology in Atlanta, Georgia). Upon completion of his doctoral studies, Wavell Cowan found employment as Technical Director of the Clyde Paper Mill of Glasgow, Scotland where he worked from 1960 to 1963.

As a result of this formative experience, Dr. Cowan developed ideas about testing equipment that could provide him with the timely information he needed to troubleshoot process upsets and to tailor process variables to meet customer quality needs.

1968 - Pulmac Instruments International

In 1968, Dr. Cowan spun off Pulmac Instruments Ltd. from his consulting firm. He moved the company to the United States in 1978 where it was reorganized as a family-owned business under the trade name of Pulmac Instruments International.

He then dedicated his professional life to having industry accept his ideas as standard practices. Information about fiber degradation through zero-span testing and the indicator this data provides regarding pulp strength is now easily available with a simple test procedure. This has come about largely because of

Dr. Cowan's ideas conceived over forty years ago in the day-to-day work of seeking technical solutions in a quaint Scottish paper mill.

The versatile laboratory screen, first introduced as the Shive Classifier then improved upon and re-introduced as the Master Screen, was also born of Dr. Cowan's early experiences in Scotland. His other contributions to the industry include the high-ratio screen and the un-foil.

2004 - Pulmac Inc.

Today his success is demonstrated by the currency that the Pulmac name enjoys in the pulp and paper industry. In 1998, Wavell Cowan retired from Pulmac and the business was passed on to sons Brent and Joffrey Cowan. Joffrey opted out of this partnership in 2004.

Brent Cowan incorporated Pulmac Inc. to carry on the proud traditions of his family's long service to the pulp and paper industry.

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©2007 Pulmac Inc. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Micrograph fiber scans courtesy the Paper Project - http://paperproject.org