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Fall 2018 Newsletter

 

The Wood Enterprise Institute takes flight in 2018

By D. Earl Kline

The 2017-18 Wood Enterprise Institute (WEI) successfully designed customizable drink flights that are functional, ergonomic, and aesthetically appealing. The flights are customizable in regard to the number and size of glasses desired, wood species, layout, and laser engravings.

 

Summer camp activities offered for high school students

By Audrey Zink-Sharp, Sara Cerv, and Bob Smith

Several groups of high school students participated in an education project this past summer sponsored by USDA’s Women and Minorities Grant Program. The purpose of this project is to increase awareness and preparation of women and minority students for careers in the new biomaterials fields. We are creating informative recruiting materials to attract women and minority students to biomaterials undergraduate programs and are developing SBIOCAMP, a model for a weeklong summer camp that highlights the new discipline of biomaterials science.

 

International Woodworking Fair

By Henry Quesada

A delegation that included Professor Robert Smith, Associate Professor Henry Quesada, Senior Research Associate Linda Caudill, and graduate students Paula Fallas, Niloofar Yousefi, Cody Wykle, and Sailesh Adhikari attended the International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta the week of August 20 to represent the Department of Sustainable Biomaterials and the Wood-Based Composites Center, a partnership between Oregon State University and Virginia Tech.

 

 

Investigation of new and recovered wood shipping platforms in the United States

By Nathan Gerber and J. Kate Bridgeman

This study was performed in order to acquire key market information and data on raw material usage for the wood pallet and container industry in 2016.

Owing to the volume of new and recovered wood used by the pallet industry, the tracking of historical wood usage and pallet production is important to gauge the current state of the industry.

 

Investigation of the disposal and recovery of wood pallets and wood packaging in the United States

By Zachary Shiner and J. Kate Bridgeman

This study was performed in order to acquire market information on the disposal and recovery of wood pallets and wood packaging in 2016.

Each year a large number of wooden pallets are manufactured, recycled, and disposed of during the transportation of goods throughout the United States.

The production of these pallets consumes a significant amount of wood, and a large number of pallets end up in landfills at the end of their useful life cycle. However, many of these pallets can be recovered — they can be repaired; broken apart into components; ground into mulch, fuel, or animal bedding; or used by landfills in their day-to-day operations.

 

Hammett presents invited lecture at Auburn University

By Tom Hammett

Professor Tom Hammett was invited to give a university-wide seminar at Auburn University in January 2018. His talk, entitled “Exploring experiential learning in training natural resource professionals: Challenges and opportunities,” outlined his efforts to incorporate practical examples and real-life cases in his courses, both on campus and through study abroad.  Students participating in hands-on or experiential learning gain not only technical skills but have opportunities to practice and acquire confidence in using these skills.

 

 

New sensor research can begin thanks to Lightning Technologies!

By Laszlo Horvath and J. Kate Bridgeman

The Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design is eager to begin utilizing the $50,000 donation that their industry partner, Lightning Technologies, has recently made to the center. Lightning Technologies is known for their innovative pallet design called the Lightning-GARD, and the funds they donated have been earmarked for the purchase of a variety of sensors that can be used in conjunction with their pallet and others. Associate Professor Laszlo Horvath, director of the center, will be making the most of the donation by ensuring that students get the proper education on both using the sensors and analyzing the data collected.

 

SBIO hosts national meeting on future of undergraduate programs in wood science/sustainable biomaterials

By Bob Smith

The Department of Sustainable Biomaterials hosted a national meeting of the department heads or their representatives from 11 undergraduate degree programs in the U.S. in May. These individuals represent all of the major undergraduate programs in wood science or sustainable biomaterials: Auburn, Idaho, Maine, Michigan Tech, Minnesota, Mississippi State, NC State, Oregon State, Penn State, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia (Auburn and Michigan Tech are restarting programs). The purpose of the meeting was to better understand the changes that have occurred in the respective programs and collectively discuss the opportunities and challenges for traditional wood science/ biomaterials programs as we move forward.

 

 

Renovations in the Corrugated Packaging Lab and IKEA certification

 By Eduardo Molina and J. Kate Bridgeman

As part of renovations to the Corrugated Packaging Materials Laboratory at the Brooks Center this past summer, the lab was painted to match the new Virginia Tech brand and a new system for cleaning and organization was implemented. 

A key part of the lab renovations was the employment of lean philosophy across all operations. With the help of two undergraduate packaging systems and design summer interns, Jack Cook (pictured below) and Jhonny Fuentes, the laboratory now follows a 5S (sort, set in order, shine, standardize, and sustain) methodology for a visual workplace, providing the methods and capabilities for sustaining a full lean transformation in operations. A Kanban system was put in place to control the day-to-day workflow of testing projects, simplifying scheduling and tracking.

 

Department receives an NSF grant to convert lignin into resins

By Li Shuai

Assistant Professor Li Shuai received a $300,000, three-year National Science Foundation grant for studying “synthesis of completely biobased lignin-formaldehyde resins with catalytically activated lignin products.”

The proposed project aims to develop a chemical process to convert lignin to a more valuable material called lignin-formaldehyde (LF) resin. Completely biobased LF resins can replace petroleum-derived phenol-formaldehyde resins, which are a common material used in myriad industrial products, such as countertops, coatings, adhesives, billiard balls, etc. Lignin contains phenolic units that make it a potential renewable substitute for phenol in the synthesis of the resins. However, lignin itself has limited reactivity towards formaldehyde due to the lack of free phenolic hydroxyls and ortho positions.

 

Dr. Li Shuai's research work was published in Science Advances

A collaborative study on an unusual catechyl lignin (C-lignin) present in the seed coats of vanilla (Vanilla planifolia) and various members of the Cactaceae family of the genus Melocactus was recently published in the prestigious journal Science Advances (DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aau2968). The research work was conducted as a joint effort of several universities and institutes, including University of Wisconsin-Madison, Virginia Tech, University of North Texas, Oak Ridge National Lab, and Kyoto University.

 

There is sweetness in SBIO research 

By Tom Hammett

For several years, Professor Tom Hammett and his students have conducted research and outreach activities on non-timber forest products. They have worked with a long list of products, including dietary supplements, fibers, medicinal plants, and specialty wood products. The SBIO department has received a USDA grant to study and expand markets and production of tree sap products, including maple syrup, a popular non-timber forest product with deep Virginia roots. Hammett’s new project, “Expanding livelihood options for Virginia land owners through tree syrup production,” will examine sap production from maple and other tree species, such as sycamore, birch, and black walnut, and develop new value-added products.

 

Research for non-timber forest products:  the case of tree sap products

By Tom Hammett

The Southern Syrup Research Symposium held in Summersville, West Virginia, Sept. 28-29, 2018, brought together nearly 100 researchers, extension personnel, equipment vendors, and landowners from all of the Middle Atlantic and Northeastern states. The goal was to share findings, identify knowledge gaps, and prioritize research and extension needs, with a strong focus on the Central Appalachians.