Dr David DeVallance, the InnoRenew CoE research group leader for Renewable Materials Composites, attended the 73rd Forest Products Society (FPS) International Convention, “Innovation & Change in the Global Forest Products Industry”, held in Atlanta (Georgia, USA), 25-28 June 2019.

At the convention, leaders and experts from around the world engaged in concurrent technical breakout sessions focused on cross laminated timbers, new applications for forest products, adhesives, the circular bioeconomy and forest products markets. Three plenary sessions related to innovations in sawmills and engineered lumber, industry insight and preparing future leaders highlighted the event.

During the plenary session “Preparing Industry Leaders of the Future”, Dr DeVallance presented his talk, “Widening Innovation and Training in Europe”, with a focus on the InnoRenew CoE.

“The FPS International Convention provides a platform for bringing together industry, government and academia from around the globe to discuss relevant topics related to forest products,” said Dr DeVallance. “I had the pleasure to be invited to the convention to present and highlight the InnoRenew CoE’s work related to education and training of future leaders for the forest products sector.”

Dr David DeVallance at the plenary session. Image: InnoRenew CoE

In addition to the plenary session, Dr DeVallance chaired the technical session “New Applications”, where he gave a presentation titled “Energy Efficient Thermal Insulating Materials from Bio-based Resources”.

While in Atlanta, Dr DeVallance also attended the FPS board meetings as outgoing past-president on the Executive Board and provided an educational lecture, “Introduction to Engineered Wood Products & Composites”, at the “Introduction to Wood Science – Short Course” that was offered prior to the convention.

“As Past-President of the Forest Products Society, I was really excited to see the enthusiasm and talent on display at the international convention,” said Dr DeVallance. “In particular, I was impressed by the knowledge and innovative research presented by students at the convention.”