Wood Science Talks

Francesco Negro is a Professor at the Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Torino, Italy. His main research interests is related to innovative wood-based products, timber grading, regulations and standards, and the effects of wood on the environmental. He recently edited the open access book "Wood in Sport Equipment — Heritage, Present, Perspective", freely available from the SWST Website (https://www.swst.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Wood-in-sport-equipment_Heritage-present-perspective.pdf), which describes the changing uses of wood as a material for sport items such as bats, boats, bows and arrows, etc. but also of wood in sport facilities such as sporting halls, basketball, courts, cycling tracks, and horse stables. The book holds 35 chapters, writtern by 39 authors, coming from Italy, Austria, Chile, Italy, Madagascar, Norway, Poland, and the USA. Prof. Negro is talking about what has brought him into wood, his research interests, carreer paths, and his overall fascination about wood.

Wenxuan Wu is a PhD student at The University of Queensland, and the winner of the student poster competition at the International SWST Convention that took place July 2022 in Australia. His research is about Smouldering issues of CCA-Treated Timber that can cause collapse of wooden buildings after bushfires. Wenxuan holds two master degrees, one in chemical engineering, and a second one in fire safety engineering. He claims that wood has its own advantages when it comes to fire safety, and he is also convinced that for Australia wood might be the best material for constructions. He sees himself as a research interest driven person, he loves teaching, and his vision is to become an real expert in general timber fire safety.

Alfred Teischinger is internationally one of the most prominent wood technologists. Before retiring he was Full Professor at BOKU Vienna, Austria, and he is talking about what brought him into wood, and shares his philosophy about technology, science, also with respect to society. The major focus of this talk is on the now published Springer Handbook of Wood Science and Technology, which he co-edited, an over 2000 pages strong volume covering wood biology, chemistry and physics, structure-property relations, wood-based materials, and much more. Professor Teischinger talks about fundamental technological perspectives and industrial processes beyond sawmilling, the manufacturing of wood products, leading to wood applications. With great appreciation of wood as a resource, he is a person who has the unique gift of thinking ahead of time.

Douglas J. Gardner is Professor and Program Leader of Sustainable Materials Technology in the School of Forest Resources at the University of Maine. He is also member of the Advanced Structures and Composites Center and Forest Bioproducts Research Institute. Gardner’s research and teaching focus on polymer and interfacial science aspects of wood-polymer composite materials. He has been involved in research ranging from adhesion, surface science, cellulose nanocomposites, to extruded wood plastic composites, and additive manufacturing. At the Composite Center they have recently presented the world’s first 3D printed fully bio-based home. Prof. Gardner reviews his career path, how much SWST has helped him to build a strong network, and reveals also what he enjoys in addition to being a professor and researcher: singing and playing the guitar.

Wayan Darmawan is a Full Professor at the Department of Forest Product, Bogor Agricultural University (IPB University), Indonesia, where he is with the Wood Quality Improvement Technology Division. His interests are around machining of wood, and how to improve lower quality plantation wood though modification trials. Prof. Darmawan is talking about his research, about the offered wood program, the many students they are getting each year, about the wood industry in Indonesia, and how important it is to use more wood in civil engineering. Prof. Daramawan also tells about the value of having their wood program accredited by SWST, which helped to raise the standards and the international visibility.