Presentations & Summaries

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John Moore, CTE

Growing trees for the future of construction.

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Sitka spruce is the most widely planted coniferous tree species in the United Kingdom. It is important for the profitability of the UK forest industry that Sitka spruce continue its increasing acceptance as a structural timber. This presentation looks at current studies which aim to quantify the extent and key drivers of variation.

John Moore Senior Research Fellow and leader of the Strategic Integrated Research in Timber Project at Napier University. A forest engineer from New Zealand, he has spent over a decade working for the NZ Forest Research
Institute. John studied for his PhD at Oregon State  University looking at the biomechanics of Douglas-fir trees. His current research focuses on the mechanical properties of locally-grown timber species, primarily Sitka spruce.

Dr Steve Lee, Prog Leader Forest Research

Genetics - the way forward for high quality timber.

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Tree breeders are essential to improving external and internal characteristics in order to increase final commercial value, but it is in its infancy compared to
agricultural crops. Tree breeding can benefit from theoretical and technological advances now being made to very quickly advance the rate of genetic gain. This kind of technology coupled with other areas of development will lead to the mass deployment of highly selected clones aimed specifically for the construction timber maker.

Graduating in Ecological Sciences at Edinburgh University in 1977, Dr Lee has extensive experience as a forest manager and project leader with the Forestry Commission, achieving a PhD in the quantitative genetics of Sitka
spruce in 1997. Currently Head of the Conifer Breeding Unit and Programme Leader within Forest Management Division, Dr Lee’s responsibilities cover all aspects of work relating to the breeding of conifer species in Britain.

Andrew Lyons, CTE

Improving the mechanical properties of timber by conversion.

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In Sitka spruce, (Picea sitchensis), considerable site-tosite and tree-to-tree variation in wood properties exists. It is important to be able to identify wood with certain properties as early as possible in the value
chain and acoustic tools can be used to direct it to the most appropriate end use.

Geoff Rhodes, Coillte Panel Products

Innovations in panel products.

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Geoff Rhodes entered the timber trade in 1969 and in 1975 joined Seaboard International where he specialised in sales of panel products, eventually taking responsibility for developing the market for Medite MDF in the UK and Ireland. Over the last twenty years Geoff has been with Medite, whose developments culminated most recently in being acquired by the Irish Forestry Board, Coillte.

Dr Martin Ohlmeyer, Fed Research Centre for Forestry and FP Institute, Germany

Emissions from wood building products.

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The presentation will cover state of the art VOC-testing methods and evaluation as well as aspects about the standardisation process on CEN and national (particularly Germany and France) level. A summary about VOC emissions from wood (building) products with respect to the upcoming requirements will also be given.

Dr Martin Ohlmeyer is a lecturer at the University of Hamburg and responsible for numerous projects in the field of wood technology and woodbased panel process technology, including the assessment of physical and
mechanical properties of plantation tropical wood species; testing physical, mechanical and bonding properties of wood species for assessing the suitability as a window frame material; evaluation of VOC-emissions for wood products.

Dr Ed Suttie, BRE and Geoff Taylor, Sikkens

Innovations in exterior cladding and planned maintenance.

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Dr Ed Suttie is the Director of Timber Research at BRE. He is a member of the Scottish Forest Industries Cluster
Leadership Group and the English Forest Industries Partnership. He serves on British and European Standards Committees, providing UK expert input. He is a working group chairman of European COST Action E37 "Sustainability through new technologies for enhanced wood durability”. Dr Suttie has a degree in Chemistry from the University of York and has a PhD doctoral thesis
on the photo-stabilisation of wood to the University of Sussex. He has published widely in the field of timber protection, coatings and wood durability.

Geoff Taylor has spent over 30 years in the UK construction industry. He is an acknowledged expert with extensive management experience in technical, customer support, sales and marketing environments. He has been employed by the three largest coating manufacturers in the world: Akzo Nobel, ICI Paints and Sherwin Williams. Currently engaged in the role of business development
for the Sikkens Joinery business in the UK and Ireland, Geoff looks to establish added value partnerships with Europe’s forward thinking companies.

Peter Condon, CTE

Timber e-learning education online.

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Online learning can answer the need to disseminate research information and develop the skills that will make use of our new found knowledge which is increasingly important in a world that moves faster every day. This
presentation looks at the idea of innovation and how this system of learning can bring many advantages to an industry short of skills and starved of knowledge. Encouraging supported learning, assuring quality and values of traditional knowledge are all key to this process, and this presentation hopes to show that learning can indeed be ‘fun’ and still be worthwhile.

Peter Condon MSc specialises in the development and delivery of Online Learning and works with Napier Centre for Timber Engineering developing learning materials for the industry whilst adding to his knowledge with the Open University’s MAODE Online and Distance Education Masters degree.