A mid-term review of the National Centre for Timber Durability and Design Life conducted by FWPA board members resulted in the extension of the centre’s activities for a further five years, with the potential for three more. This extension reflects the centre’s many achievements.
The centre is an important FWPA research initiative, established five years ago with the goal of returning Australia at the forefront of international best practice and underpinning consumer confidence in the performance of timber products. As a result of the positive review, it will now continue to operate until at least 2027.
The review panel concluded the centre successfully completed its establishment phase through the development of a coherent research program, employment of staff, and initiation of significant activity.
In conducting its review, the panel considered the primary goal of the centre, which is to create a thriving research enterprise that engages scientists from around the world to work collaboratively in addressing durability issues central to the use of timber in Australia.
“We are delighted with the findings of this review, and the decision to extend the activities of the centre by three years. We are especially pleased it was strongly supported by the vast majority of industry representatives surveyed as part of the review,” said Professor Jeffrey Morrell, Director of the National Centre for Timber Durability and Design Life.
The centre’s key achievements include:
- hosting internationally recognised visiting scientists for short-term visits
- enrolling ten postgraduate students (eight Doctors of Philosophy and two Masters of Science), who will form the core of a revitalised nationwide durability research effort
- publishing widely in peer reviewed, internationally recognised journals, with a focus on research of benefit to Australian timber producers and users
- working collaboratively with architectural and engineering communities to develop data to enhance ageing service life prediction models
- collaborating with timber treaters to facilitate development of a system for assessing treated wood quality
- organising the International Research Group on Wood Protection (IRGWP) meeting to be held in 2023
- organising durability sessions at the World Conferences of Timber Engineering (WCTE) meetings in Santiago, Chile, in 2020, and participating as a sponsor for the 2025 WCTE meeting in Brisbane
- sponsoring the 2022 International Meeting of the Society of Wood Science and Technology (SWST) in Kingscliff, NSW, in July 2022
- positioning itself as a leading, innovative and cutting-edge durability research group that maximises timber usage
- creating a firm financial basis for continuation of the centre into the future.
The renewal will be effective for a five-year term, with the possibility of a three-year extension after a successful third year review.
“The centre has successfully established itself by working to ensure Australia has access to the world’s leading research, while building strong links between industry, academia and customers,” said Dr Chris Lafferty of FWPA.
“The centre has already led some vital research projects which have provided significant value to the Australian forestry and wood products industry. It has attracted the attention and support of world-leading researchers and is well on its way to meeting its objective of creating a new generation of Australian durability researchers.”
The extension of the centre is subject to several conditions, including the creation of a long-term plan, an ambitious yet realistic set of outcomes and outputs, and a set of measurable performance indicators such as the number of visiting scientists, students trained, and papers published.
Other requirements include a continued focus on industry involvement, and revised administrative and governance arrangements.
Celebrating the wins and looking to the future
The centre’s next milestone will be the hosting of its second annual research showcase on 27 April at the Ecosciences Precinct at Dutton Park in Brisbane.
During the event, centre staff and students will present some of their successes so far, while industry representatives from across the supply chain will be given the chance to discuss what they feel has worked well, improvements that could be made going forward, and what they would like to see from the centre in the future.
To attend this free event, please register at: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/durability-centre-research-showcase-tickets-309225049447
The outcomes of the discussions held during this event will be used to set the agenda for the centre moving forward.
“The input of industry as part of this session is vital to ensuring the centre continues to move in the right direction,” said Professor Morrell.
“While we are of course keen to hear what stakeholders see as the positives of our work so far, we also see this as a valuable opportunity to invite constructive criticism that will help us in our mission to strive for continuous improvement.
“In addition, our students will have the opportunity to stand face-to-face with industry representatives and get an accurate feel for how their work has been received.”
Society of Wood Science and Technology (SWST) Annual International Meeting
The centre is also looking forward to hosting the 65th SWST International Meeting in Kingscliffe, NSW, from 10 to 15 July, with support from FWPA, AKD, Wesbeam, Responsible Wood, and the Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia (EWPA).
The SWST is the peak international body dealing with wood science. The meeting will bring together around 200 attendees, including scientists from across the globe, to address topics including basic timber properties, mass timber construction, plantation resources, timber certification, and timber processing.
The event’s keynote speaker is scheduled to be Dr Robert Leicester, a retired CSIRO scientist based in Melbourne. Dr. Leicester led a team that pioneered the development of a series of service life prediction models for timber.
“Dr Leicester’s ground-breaking work led to him receiving the prestigious Marcus Wallenberg Prize — which is sometimes referred to as the Nobel Prize of the timber world,” said Professor Morrell.
“He will talk about his continued work to improve the models so they can be utilised by engineers and architects to use timber more effectively.”
The 2022 event represents the first time this meeting has been hosted in Australia and will provide students from across the country with an opportunity to give presentations about their work on an international stage. More than 160 abstracts from 25 countries have been submitted so far, and registration is now open at www.swst.org
Statistical Processes Control Workshop
In addition, a Statistical Processes Control Workshop will be hosted by the centre for the composite industry from 2–4 August on the USC campus at Sippy Downs. The program will be delivered by Dr Tim Young, Professor at the University of Tennessee. Dr Young has extensive experience with statistical process control in the timber industry and the event will build upon the successful 2019 workshop held at the University of South Australia campus in Mt Gambier.
This new session will focus more on engineered wood products, but the lessons are relevant to anyone involved in mill quality control and assessment. The goal is to help attendees use their data to improve efficiencies. Contact Professor Jeffrey Morrell for further information at jmorrell@usc.edu.au
