December 2007

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

59th Annual Lumber Drying Workshop: 59th Annual Lumber Drying Workshop: WS&E conducted its 59th annual lumber drying workshop in December. Led by Mike Milota, five department faculty and 10 outside speakers presented the 3.5-day class. It was attended by 32 industry personnel from Oregon, Washington, and California.

TV Stars!  Rakesh Gupta & graduate student Jebediah Wilson successfully tested a model wood-frame house at OSU’s Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory. They are learning much about just what happens when a structure is battered repeatedly by waves, especially the type found in hurricane storm surges. The testing was featured on KEZI 9, the ABC affiliate in Eugene, and the broadcast can be found at http://www.kezi.com/article.aspx?id=8511.  

International Travels: Eric Hansen was an invited speaker in Concepción, Chile at a conference titled, Experiences and Challenges in the development of a competitive base for innovation in the forest sector. The conference was hosted by the Universidad Catolica de la Santisma. He also took the opportunity to visit with alumni Ernesto Wagner in Uruguay and look at some of Weyerhaeuser’s South American operations. John Simonsen gave an invited talk at the “Nanoforestry Revolution” Conference in Vancouver BC. The Conference of about 60 was sponsored by Nanotek BC and FPInnovations (formerly Forintek).

Community Outreach: Jeff Morrell & Connie Love were contacted by Glenn Ahrens, Extension Forester, Clatsop and Tillamook County, to see if they could help Gordon Smith (not the senator!). Smith is the proprietor of Camp 18, a logging museum along the Sunset Highway, and needed to protect the new 160 foot Douglas fir spar pole he was erecting. The new spar pole had a butt of 57 inches in diameter and a top of 19 inches. The old spar pole had begun to decay and was riddled with buprestid beetle and woodpecker holes. Connie traveled to the logging museum last month and treated the full-length of the new pole with a granular fumigant and boron rods. She applied a copper/boron paste to the pole butt. Dave LaFever made an aluminum pole cap that Connie attached to protect the top against water intrusion and decay. See her handiwork the next time you stop in for dinner on the way to the coast.

DEPARTMENT OF WOOD SCIENCE & ENGINEERING
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

What is this? A monthly capsule summary of selected project updates, new ventures, new grants/ contracts/ testing programs, major papers, accomplishments, awards and kudos, other stuff you are proud of, or activities that your colleagues (and DH) might find interesting. The goal is better awareness of the professional activities of faculty, staff and students in Wood Science & Engineering.