New Chair of the Academy Board

Professor Holger Militz of the Institute of Wood Biology and Wood Technology, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen/Germany, has been elected as the Chair of the Academy Board. He replaces Professor George Jeronimidis who steps down on completion of his term of office with the thanks of the Executive Committee.

The Wilhelm-Klauditz-Prize 2012

At the 8th European Wood Material Symposium in Hannover/Germany, the Wilhelm-Klauditz-Prize 2012 was awarded to the ETH Zürich, Institute for Building Materials, wood physics group leader Prof. Peter Niemz (Fellow IAWS) with their industrial cooperation partners, namely Dr. Sebastian Clauß, Dipl.-Holzwirt Oliver Kläusler, Dr. Mathias Matner, Dr. Dirk Dijkstra, Dr. Eduard Mayer (Bayer Material Science), Dr. Carlos Amen, Dr. Joseph Gabriel, Dr. Walter Meckel (Purbond AG) and Dr. Alexander Karbach (Currenta GmbH & Co. OHG). The prize is awarded in a 3-year cycle for outstanding scientific or application-oriented works in the field of wood science and ecology by the “Internationaler Verein für Technische Holzfragen e.V.”.

The awarded project was initiated in 2007 and completed in 2011 in the framework of a dissertation entitled “Structure–property relationships of one-component moisture-curing polyurethane adhesives under thermal load”. The investigation was concerned with the chemical improvement of 1C PUR adhesives for structural timber engineering. Within the study, significant findings to the structure–property relationships of 1C PUR adhesives could be determined which have been directly integrated in the development of new systems by the industrial partners. This adhesive type leads to particularly good adjustable formaldehyde-free bonding of wooden lamellas. Continuative findings about the influence of filling materials and the adhesion of wood could be obtained as well. First, product commercializations are cross-laminated timber boards with increased thermal stability for building applications.

The work was awarded because of its technical relevance for timber engineering and the production of structural wood boards. In addition, this project is a good example of successful cooperation between science and industrial practice.

Reminder

The 2013 annual meeting of the Academy will be hosted by the Institute of Chemical Industry of Forest Products (ICIFP), Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAF) in Nanjing from 21 to 24 October 2013. It will take place jointly with the PRWAC meeting and cover the biological, chemical and physical sciences of lignified natural materials and products derived therefrom, as well as the scientific base of the technology of converting such substances into useful products.

Contact details

http://8th-prwac.njfu.edu.cn/

E-mail address: prwac8th@163.com